tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185199279742033982024-03-08T07:23:12.326-08:00Closet FantasiesMaria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-980426440414093542012-07-28T09:50:00.004-07:002012-07-28T09:50:25.796-07:00The Devil and Daniel Webster | Stephen Vincent Benet<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Follow <a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602901h.html">this link</a> to the Project Gutenburg site to read an awesome story about an awesome lawyer--with a Faustian twist! </span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-11107861106876982812012-07-14T09:02:00.002-07:002012-07-14T09:02:19.736-07:00In A Grove | Ryunosuke Akutagawa<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;">
<b><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Translated
by Takashi Kojima</span></i></b></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The
Testimony of a Woodcutter Questioned by a High Police Commissioner</span></strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Yes,
sir. Certainly, it was I who found the body. This morning, as usual, I went to
cut my daily quota of cedars, when I found the body in a grove in a hollow in
the mountains. The exact location? About 150 meters off the Yamashina stage
road. It's an out-of-the-way grove of bamboo and cedars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The body was lying flat on its back dressed in a bluish
silk kimono and a wrinkled head-dress of the Kyoto style. A single sword-stroke
had pierced the breast. The fallen bamboo-blades around it were stained with bloody
blossoms. No, the blood was no longer running. The wound had dried up, I
believe. And also, a gad-fly was stuck fast there, hardly noticing my
footsteps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">You ask me if I saw a sword or any such thing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">No, nothing, sir. I found only a rope at the root of a
cedar near by. And . . . well, in addition to a rope, I found a comb. That was
all. Apparently he must have made a battle of it before he was murdered,
because the grass and fallen bamboo-blades had been trampled down all around.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">"A horse was nearby?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">No, sir. It's hard enough for a man to enter, let alone a
horse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The Testimony of a Traveling Buddhist
PriestQuestioned by a High Police Commissioner</span></strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The time? Certainly, it was about noon yesterday, sir.
The unfortunate man was on the road from Sekiyama to Yamashina. He was walking
toward Sekiyama with a woman accompanying him on horseback, who I have since
learned was his wife. A scarf hanging from her head hid her face from view. All
I saw was the color of her clothes, a lilac-colored suit. Her horse was a
sorrel with a fine mane. The lady's height? Oh, about four feet five inches.
Since I am a Buddhist priest, I took little notice about her details. Well, the
man was armed with a sword as well as a bow and arrows. And I remember that he
carried some twenty odd arrows in his quiver.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Little did I expect that he would meet such a fate. Truly
human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning. My
words are inadequate to express my sympathy for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The Testimony of a Policeman Questioned by a
High Police Commissioner</span></strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The man that I arrested? He is a notorious brigand called
Tajomaru. When I arrested him, he had fallen off his horse. He was groaning on
the bridge at Awataguchi. The time? It was in the early hours of last night.
For the record, I might say that the other day I tried to arrest him, but
unfortunately he escaped. He was wearing a dark blue silk kimono and a large
plain sword. And, as you see, he got a bow and arrows somewhere. You say that
this bow and these arrows look like the ones owned by the dead man? Then
Tajomaru must be the murderer. The bow wound with leather strips, the black
lacquered quiver, the seventeen arrows with hawk feathers—these were all in his
possession I believe. Yes, Sir, the horse is, as you say, a sorrel with a fine
mane. A little beyond the stone bridge I found the horse grazing by the
roadside, with his long rein dangling. Surely there is some providence in his
having been thrown by the horse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Of all the robbers prowling around Kyoto, this Tajomaru
has given the most grief to the women in town. Last autumn a wife who came to
the mountain back of the Pindora of the Toribe Temple, presumably to pay a
visit, was murdered, along with a girl. It has been suspected that it was his
doing. If this criminal murdered the man, you cannot tell what he may have done
with the man's wife. May it please your honor to look into this problem as
well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The Testimony of an Old Woman Questioned by a
High Police Commissioner</span></strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Yes, sir, that corpse is the man who married my daughter.
He does not come from Kyoto. He was a samurai in the town of Kokufu in the
province of Wakasa. His name was Kanazawa no Takehiko, and his age was
twenty-six. He was of a gentle disposition, so I am sure he did nothing to provoke
the anger of others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">My daughter? Her name is Masago, and her age is nineteen.
She is a spirited, fun-loving girl, but I am sure she has never known any man
except Takehiko. She has a small, oval, dark-complected face with a mole at the
corner of her left eye.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Yesterday Takehiko left for Wakasa with my daughter. What
bad luck it is that things should have come to such a sad end! What has become
of my daughter? I am resigned to giving up my son-in-law as lost, but the fate
of my daughter worries me sick. For heaven's sake leave no stone unturned to
find her. I hate that robber Tajomaru, or whatever his name is. Not only my
son-in-law, but my daughter . . . (Her later words were drowned in tears.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Tajomaru's Confession</span></strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I killed him, but not her. Where's she gone? I can't tell.
Oh, wait a minute. No torture can make me confess what I don't know. Now things
have come to such a head, I won't keep anything from you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Yesterday a little past noon I met that couple. Just then
a puff of wind blew, and raised her hanging scarf, so that I caught a glimpse
of her face. Instantly it was again covered from my view. That may have been
one reason; she looked like a Bodhisattva. At that moment I made up my mind to
capture her even if I had to kill her man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Why? To me killing isn't a matter of such great
consequence as you might think. When a woman is captured, her man has to be
killed anyway. In killing, I use the sword I wear at my side. Am I the only one
who kills people? You, you don't use your swords. You kill people with your
power, with your money. Sometimes you kill them on the pretext of working for
their good. It's true they don't bleed. They are in the best of health, but all
the same you've killed them. It's hard to say who is a greater sinner, you or
me. (An ironical smile.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">But it would be good if I could capture a woman without
killing her man. So, I made up my mind to capture her, and do my best not to
kill him. But it's out of the question on the Yamashina stage road. So I
managed to lure the couple into the mountains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">It was quite easy. I became their traveling companion,
and I told them there was an old mound in the mountain over there, and that I
had dug it open and found many mirrors and swords. I went on to tell them I'd
buried the things in a grove behind the mountain, and that I'd like to sell
them at a low price to anyone who would care to have them. Then... you see,
isn't greed terrible? He was beginning to be moved by my talk before he knew
it. In less than half an hour they were driving their horse toward the mountain
with me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">When he came in front of the grove, I told them that the
treasures were buried in it, and I asked them to come and see. The man had no
objection—he was blinded by greed. The woman said she would wait on horseback.
It was natural for her to say so, at the sight of a thick grove. To tell you
the truth, my plan worked just as I wished, so I went into the grove with him,
leaving her behind alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The grove is only bamboo for some distance. About fifty
yards ahead there's a rather open clump of cedars. It was a convenient spot for
my purpose. Pushing my way through the grove, I told him a plausible lie that
the treasures were buried under the cedars. When I told him this, he pushed his
laborious way toward the slender cedar visible through the grove. After a while
the bamboo thinned out, and we came to where a number of cedars grew in a row.
As soon as we got there, I seized him from behind. Because he was a trained,
sword-bearing warrior, he was quite strong, but he was taken by surprise, so there
was no help for him. I soon tied him up to the root of a cedar. Where did I get
a rope? Thank heaven, being a robber, I had a rope with me, since I might have
to scale a wall at any moment. Of course it was easy to stop him from calling
out by gagging his mouth with fallen bamboo leaves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">When I disposed of him, I went to his woman and asked her
to come and see him, because he seemed to have been suddenly taken sick. It's
needless to say that this plan also worked well. The woman, her sedge hat off,
came into the depths of the grove, where I led her by the hand. The instant she
caught sight of her husband, she drew a small sword. I've never seen a woman of
such violent temper. If I'd been off guard, I'd have got a thrust in my side. I
dodged, but she kept on slashing at me. She might have wounded me deeply or
killed me. But I'm Tajomaru. I managed to strike down her small sword without
drawing my own. The most spirited woman is defenseless without a weapon. At
least I could satisfy my desire for her without taking her husband's life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Yes... without taking his life. I had no wish to kill
him. I was about to run away from the grove, leaving the woman behind in tears,
when she frantically clung to my arm. In broken fragments of words, she asked
that either her husband or I die. She said it was more trying than death to
have her shame known to two men. She gasped out that she wanted to be the wife
of whichever survived. Then a furious desire to kill him seized me. (Gloomy
excitement.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Telling you in this way, no doubt I seem a crueler man
than you. But that's because you didn't see her face. Especially her burning
eyes at that moment. As I saw her eye to eye, I wanted to make her my wife even
if I were to be struck by lightning. I wanted to make her my wife... this
single desire filled my mind. This was not only lust, as you might think. At
that time if I'd had no other desire than lust, I'd surely not have minded
knocking her down and running away. Then I wouldn't have stained my sword with
his blood. But the moment I gazed at her face in the dark grove, I decided not
to leave there without killing him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">But I didn't like to resort to unfair means to kill him.
I untied him and told him to cross swords with me. (The rope that was found at
the root of the cedar is the rope I dropped at the time.) Furious with anger,
he drew his thick sword. And quick as thought, he sprang at me ferociously,
without speaking a word. I needn't tell you how our fight turned out. The
twenty-third stroke... please remember this. I'm impressed with this fact
still. Nobody under the sun has ever clashed swords with me twenty strokes. (A
cheerful smile.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">When he fell, I turned toward her, lowering my
blood-stained sword. But to my great astonishment she was gone. I wondered to
where she had run away. I looked for her in the clump of cedars. I listened,
but heard only a groaning sound from the throat of the dying man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">As soon as we started to cross swords, she may have run
away through the grove to call for help. When I thought of that, I decided it
was a matter of life and death to me. So, robbing him of his sword, and bow and
arrows, I ran out to the mountain road. There I found her horse still grazing
quietly. It would be a mere waste of words to tell you the later details, but
before I entered town I had already parted with the sword. That's all my
confession. I know that my head will be hung in chains anyway, so put me down
for the maximum penalty. (A defiant attitude.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The Confession of a Woman Who Has Come to
the </span></strong><em><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Shimizu</span></b></em><strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> Temple</span></strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">That man in the blue silk kimono, after forcing me to
yield to him, laughed mockingly as he looked at my bound husband. How horrified
my husband must have been! But no matter how hard he struggled in agony, the
rope cut into him all the more tightly. In spite of myself I ran stumblingly
toward his side. Or rather I tried to run toward him, but the man instantly
knocked me down. Just at that moment I saw an indescribable light in my
husband's eyes. Something beyond expression... his eyes make me shudder even
now. That instantaneous look of my husband, who couldn't speak a word, told me
all his heart. The flash in his eyes was neither anger nor sorrow... only a
cold light, a look of loathing. More struck by the look in his eyes than by the
blow of the thief, I called out in spite of myself and fell unconscious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">In the course of time I came to, and found that the man
in blue silk was gone. I saw only my husband still bound to the root of the
cedar. I raised myself from the bamboo-blades with difficulty, and looked into
his face; but the expression in his eyes was just the same as before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Beneath the cold contempt in his eyes, there was hatred.
Shame, grief, and anger... I don't know how to express my heart at that time.
Reeling to my feet, I went up to my husband.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">"Takejiro," I said to him, "since things
have come to this pass, I cannot live with you. I'm determined to die... but
you must die, too. You saw my shame. I can't leave you alive as you are."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">This was all I could say. Still he went on gazing at me
with loathing and contempt. My heart breaking, I looked for his sword. It must
have been taken by the robber. Neither his sword nor his bow and arrows were to
be seen in the grove. But fortunately my small sword was lying at my feet.
Raising it over head, once more I said, "Now give me your life. I'll
follow you right away."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">When he heard these words, he moved his lips with
difficulty. Since his mouth was stuffed with leaves, of course his voice could
not be heard at all. But at a glance I understood his words. Despising me, his
look said only, "Kill me." Neither conscious nor unconscious, I
stabbed the small sword through the lilac-colored kimono into his breast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Again at this time I must have fainted. By the time I
managed to look up, he had already breathed his last—still in bonds. A streak
of sinking sunlight streamed through the clump of cedars and bamboos, and shone
on his pale face. Gulping down my sobs, I untied the rope from his dead body.
And... and what has become of me since I have no more strength to tell you.
Anyway I hadn't the strength to die. I stabbed my own throat with the small
sword, I threw myself into a pond at the foot of the mountain, and I tried to
kill myself in many ways. Unable to end my life, I am still living in dishonor.
(A lonely smile.) Worthless as I am, I must have been forsaken even by the most
merciful Kwannon. I killed my own husband. I was violated by the robber.
Whatever can I do? Whatever can I... I... (Gradually, violent sobbing.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The Story of the Murdered Man, as Told
Through a Medium</span></strong><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">After violating my wife, the robber, sitting there, began
to speak comforting words to her. Of course I couldn't speak. My whole body was
tied fast to the root of a cedar. But meanwhile I winked at her many times, as
much as to say "Don't believe the robber." I wanted to convey some
such meaning to her. But my wife, sitting dejectedly on the bamboo leaves, was
looking hard at her lap. To all appearance, she was listening to his words. I
was agonized by jealousy. In the meantime the robber went on with his clever
talk, from one subject to another. The robber finally made his bold brazen
proposal. "Once your virtue is stained, you won't get along well with your
husband, so won't you be my wife instead? It's my love for you that made me be
violent toward you."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">While the criminal talked, my wife raised her face as if
in a trance. She had never looked so beautiful as at that moment. What did my
beautiful wife say in answer to him while I was sitting bound there? I am lost
in space, but I have never thought of her answer without burning with anger and
jealousy. Truly she said, “Then take me away with you wherever you go."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">This is not the whole of her sin. If that were all, I
would not be tormented so much in the dark. When she was going out of the grove
as if in a dream, her hand in the robber's, she suddenly turned pale, and
pointed at me tied to the root of the cedar, and said, "Kill him! I cannot
marry you as long as he lives." "Kill him!" she cried many
times, as if she had gone crazy. Even now these words threaten to blow me
headlong into the bottomless abyss of darkness. Has such a hateful thing come
out of a human mouth ever before? Have such cursed words ever struck a human
ear, even once? Even once such a... (A sudden cry of scorn.) At these words the
robber himself turned pale. "Kill him," she cried, clinging to his
arms. Looking hard at her, he answered neither yes nor no... but hardly had I
thought about his answer before she had been knocked down into the bamboo
leaves. (Again a cry of scorn.) Quietly folding his arms, he looked at me and
said, "What will you do with her? Kill her or save her? You have only to
nod. Kill her?" For these words alone I would like to pardon his crime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">While I hesitated, she shrieked and ran into the depths
of the grove. The robber instantly snatched at her, but he failed even to grasp
her sleeve.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">After she ran away, he took up my sword, and my bow and
arrows. With a single stroke he cut one of my bonds. I remember his mumbling,
"My fate is next." Then he disappeared from the grove. All was silent
after that. No, I heard someone crying. Untying the rest of my bonds, I
listened carefully, and I noticed that it was my own crying. (Long silence.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I raised my exhausted body from the foot of the cedar. In
front of me there was shining the small sword which my wife had dropped. I took
it up and stabbed it into my breast. A bloody lump rose to my mouth, but I
didn't feel any pain. When my breast grew cold, everything was as silent as the
dead in their graves. What profound silence! Not a single bird-note was heard
in the sky over this grave in the hollow of the mountains. Only a lonely light
lingered on the cedars and mountains. By and by the light gradually grew
fainter, till the cedars and bamboo were lost to view. Lying there, I was
enveloped in deep silence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Then someone crept up to me. I tried to see who it was.
But darkness had already been gathering round me. Someone... that someone drew
the small sword softly out of my breast in its invisible hand. At the same time
once more blood flowed into my mouth. And once and for all I sank down into the
darkness of space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-48172324909580232012-05-31T08:47:00.000-07:002012-05-31T08:51:22.492-07:00of language and other arguments<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The past few days have been a real linguistic treat for me--a chance to look at the way language works in the minds of people. Well, people within my online sphere, which is admittedly rather large (I am a very dutiful netizen). This week saw the conviction of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, and twenty-three reasons by twenty-three senators for their respective decisions; I've also held converse with a couple of interesting enough people to bolster my thesis statement, which is this: <strong>people will likely favor an argument delivered through a more formal variety of language even if such argument lacks substance, over an argument delivered through more informal varieties of language despite the credibility of the message itself.</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let us take, for example, the very masa delivery of Mr Representative Rudy Farinas' closing argument before the Senate sitting as impeachment court. <strong>He used the vernacular language instead of straight Legalese English, employing such terms as 'palusot' which has no real equivalent in either English or Legalese, the language of oh-so-lofty lawyers.</strong> But did law students buy his argument? No, or at least, this writer saw negative comments, in guise of jokes, such as 'kinda want him cited for contempt... [for] [o]ffending the intelligence of the judges.' The writer of this comment is a classmate of the writer of this note in the San Beda College of Law, and reflects the views of majority of the views of the freshmen students of said college. But if one is to look, indiscriminately and sans all political and ideological colors, Mr Farinas' argument is quite tenable. Sure, he may not have used straight Legalese like most other lawyers, defense and prosecution panels included, but he did make valid points in his speech and backed said valid points with evidence presented prior by the prosecution panel, and common sense. Take for example the way he rebutted Mr Former Chief Justice Corona's assertion that he had started saving dollars in the late sixties. Mr Farinas explained, in the vernacular language of the streets, that Mr Corona is his academic senior by one year, and if Mr Corona's explanation regarding his dollar accounts is to be believed, then he must have been saving dollars during their elementary schoool years. But why didn't the law students I know who have reacted violently against Mr Farinas acknowledge this very simple, albeit very streetwise and 'pilosopo' but otherwise valid, argument?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then there is Ms Brilliant Senator Judge Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who is ready to leave at the end of the year the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines for her post in the International Criminal Court in Den Haag, Nederland. She is hailed, rightly in this writer's opinion, as one of the brightest legal minds of this country, albeit a little cracked as seen both inthe media and jurisprudence like Pobre v. Defensor-Santiago. There have been serious doubts about her sanity, the most recent manifestation of which is an online petition to have her removed from the ICC. Whatever the merits of that petition are, the main idea of this paragraph about Sen. Santiago is her explanation of her acquit-vote viz. Rep. Farinas' closing argument. The good lady senator at the end of her stint in the impeachment court however, chose not to pursue either the defense or the prosecution's arguments, but instead attacked the prosecution, the House of Representatives, and her fellow Senators in asking, as I paraphrase, how many of you filed your SALNs, as if pursiung an argument of he-who-is-without-sin-cast-the-first-stone. In short, an argumentum ad hominem--but this has escaped the intelligence of many law students because the good senator and seasoned lawyer. She could still have cast her vote of an acquittal and demanded transparency in all branches of government and still not resorted to ad hominem but rather her own reading and construction of relevant laws in the matter of the impeachment. And however this may be, what was the ace up her sleeve? <strong>She is Miriam Defensor-Santiago, a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines, a seasoned lawyer, law professor and former RTC judge, and soon-to-be judge at the International Criminal Court. </strong>She can afford to have her personal political vendettas and keep her place in the hearts of conservative law students.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>Such is the power of language--that even without substance, an argument, if delivered by a credible and dauntingly powerful enough figure, trumps another with powerful substance but delivered in the more informal and vulgar varieties of language. </strong>That truly, English reigns supreme in the hearts and minds of the educated middle classes over our native Filipino. That Filipino is seen as the language of the streets and the 'pilosopo,' the masses and on occasion, the despots who exploit the masses. But Filipino, for the conservative educated middle classes, is not a respectable enough language for courtroom and law classroom debates.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And it's not just Filipino that's looked down by the conservative educated middle classes. There are other varieties of language in this country, some of which the writer of this note is very fond of. The writer refers to her own sociolect--a variety of language peculiar to one individual--which, as a classmate once described, a lovely hybrid of English, Filipino, Legalese, and gay lingo. The writer uses this sociolect in her 'off' and 'chillax' moments--meaning, when she is not writing her legal memoranda, law papers, academic treatises, and other formal write-ups. The use of this sociolect in her Facebook and other social media however does not in any way diminish her intellectual capacity or the sharp wit she employs when conjuring arguments for the same formal papers. Indeed, it can be said the writer of this note does not stop thinking even in her sleep. She merely has a fondness for the more fun varieties of language, she having had a long-term fascination with linguistics and the way language works. She has developed <strong>the slow art of divorcing arguments from those who deliver them; the subtle technique of looking beyond the written or the spoken word; and the skill of placing arguments, with all language and the person delivering the same, into their proper historical-materialist contexts.</strong> That being said, she deems it a very sad thing indeed that most of the conservative educated middle classes often ignore these factors and look only at the packaging and form of arguments, not the arguments and the messages they convey.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It shouldn't surprise you, dear reader, that despite my ideology, fluency and not-so-humble proficiency in both English and Filipino and all the popular varities of these languages in this country, I chose to write this note in formal English. So that you'd respect my argument and not dismiss me as some kanto-aktibista. (And oh, by the way, and this is not relevant to the body of the text, I am a believer of Socialism, but I am not a Communist. There is helluva difference between the two, and it'll take another note for me to explain that. Rawr.)</span><br />
<br />Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-53938363094071574672012-05-23T10:36:00.002-07:002012-05-23T11:17:24.090-07:00notes on the translation | mga muni-muni sa pagkakasalin<br />
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Ang pagsasalin ng <em>The Hobbit</em> mula sa wikang Ingles tungo sa wikang Filipino ay isang masaya ngunit mahirap na proseso. Naging mahalaga sa akin ang pagiging matapat sa orihinal na texto, at para dito kinailangan kong aralin hindi lamang ang semantiko ng dalawang wika kung hindi ang mga mitolohiya ng dalawang kulturang ito. Mas naging hamon rin na ang mitolohiyang sinusunod ni Tolkien sa kanyang Legendarium ay hindi ang karaniwang mga supernatural na mga nilalang sa tradisyong Amerikano, specifically ang Hollywood traditions ng mga bampira, taong-lobo, at multo. Sa mundong ginawa ni Tolkien mas madarama ang impluwensya ng mga Scandinavian, Icelandic at Finnish na aaminin kong halos walang kapareho sa kulturang Filipino kahit na may malaki tayong impluwensyang nakuha sa Amerika. </div>
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Sa pagsasalin ko, pinilit kong gumawa ng paghahalili ng mga konseptong Scandinavian sa ating sariling mitolohiya. Ginunita ko ang mga kwentong-bayan natin na pumapartikular sa mga supernatural, tulad ng mga Diwata, Inano, Duwende, Aswang, Engkanto, Kapre, Tikbalang, Santelmo, at iba pa. Ngunit bukod sa mga Diwata at Inano, na aking ginamit bilang salin ng Elves at Dwarves, kaunti lamang ang pagkakapareho ng tradisyong Scandinavian sa atin. Bunga na rin siguro ito ng talagang walang naging kontak ang dalawang kultura hanggang ang ika-dalawampung siglo; at ang konsepto ng isang napagangda at imortal na lahi ay aninag na rin sa halos lahat ng sistema ng relihiyon at paniniwala sa mga supernatural sa mundo, ayon sa tesis ni Joseph Campbell sa kanyang akdang <em>The Hero With A Thousand Faces</em>. </div>
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Ang aking proyektong pagsasalin ay isang mataas na ambisyon. Sa pagsasalin ng isang akdang nasa isang wika patungo sa isa pang wika, kinakailangan ng tagapagsalin ng matibay na pundasyon hindi lamang sa wika kung hindi sa kultura ng dalawang lipunan. Hindi tumitigil ang pagsasalin sa literal na antas; ang wika'y sadyang arbitraryo at may mga tayutay, ekspresyon, at iba pang gamit o paglalaro ng salita na pekulyar lamang sa isang kultura. Kaya alam ko na kung gugustuhin ko talagang tapusin ang proyektong ito--ang pagsasalin ng <i>The Hobbit</i> sa wikang Filipino--kakailanganin kong aralin pang mas maigi ang mga mitolohiya ng Pilipinas at ng mga karatig-bansa natin sa Malayo-Polynesiang mundo sa parehong paraan na ginamit ni Tolkien ang mga mitolohiya ng mga Teutonic at Nordic na mga tradisyon. </div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-45441938729260351312012-05-08T11:49:00.000-07:002012-05-08T11:49:05.168-07:00Passengers | Luis Katigbak<br />
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You liked bus rides, I remember that much. I thought you were nuts when you first told me that, all economic reasons aside, you preferred riding buses to taking taxis. I chalked it up to your sheltered upbringing- your overly protective parents had not allowed you to take public transportation until your were twenty years old. I supposed that, even after four years, the novelty had not worn off yet.</div>
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Taxis afforded us a bit more privacy, I reasoned. We could sit comfortably, snuggle a little, and not worry about the conductor not giving us change, or someone squeezing unto the seat with us, or having to jostle our way through a people-packed aisle when it was time to get down. “But it’s different,” you insisted. “Yes,” I agreed, “and in this case, ‘different’ means ‘better’.” For that remark, you accused me- not without justification or amusement- of being small-minded and smug. It took me a while to realize that you were right and I was wrong. As per usual.</div>
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As I write this, I have to wonder-- why do we remember the things we remember? Not that all I’ve retained of our time together are bus rides and bite-sized arguments. My theory is that people, emotional masochists aside, tend to just recall things that won’t sting too much, that are easier to think about or explain, given time and distance.</div>
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You know, once in a while, I’ll start to remember something; a scene will start to fade into view. An evening in a dimly lit club, with a live band and oblivious waiters. An afternoon in a vacant office, sunlight slivering through closed blinds. A morning meeting in Mini Stop. But before the two of us walk into the frame, before the audio comes on or any sort of action begins, I’ll stop, I’ll shut off the film reel in my mind, because I know that watching those particular memories is not going to do me any good. Quite the opposite, in fact.</div>
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But I can think of you and me on a bus and t doesn’t hurt, it’s even pleasant, to remember you sitting next to me, occasionally resting the side of your head on my shoulder; to remember the chill of the air conditioner, the juddering motion as we sped through the evening, the look-at-me graffiti scrawled on the seat in front of us, the grime-blue and sick-green bus tickets folded and jammed into the gaps of that same seat, even the incessant and annoying pseudo-techno medley that almost always serves as the official soundtrack for Metro Manila buses.</div>
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I recall how the urban landscape blurring past our bus window would give us endless fodder for conversations, inane or otherwise. Remember that little store called “Manly Mart,” in Cubao, just across the Araneta Coliseum? We wondered: did you have to be Manly with a capital M to shop there? Would they bar scrawny nerds at the door? Or was that where one went purchase men? Then there was the time we were stuck in traffic on East Avenue, and you told me about the day you visited a friend who was confined at the medical center there, about the feeling of desolation the place gave you- the depressing green tiles on the hallways, and the constellations of cigarette butts that you could see from your friend’s hospital room window, spread out on the blackened rooftop of a lower floor.</div>
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And one time, instead of the usual techno-dreck, the bus we were riding was playing ‘80s hits on its sound system. This started us on a conversation that encompassed our high school years ( the unsurpassed cruelty of cliques and certain teachers), our most embarrassing hairstyles ever (frizzy and poodle-like, in your case: a mullet, in mine) and of course music. “Turn Back the Clock,” that sappy nostalgic tune, started playing, and I got absurdly sentimental. It occurred to me that even though we had been out for a few months, we didn’t have ‘song’ yet to call our own. I remarked upon this fact. You remained silent. And when I remarked upon your silence, you said “I’m holding out for a better song.”</div>
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I could hardly blame you. Unfortunately, it was too late; the concept, and the moment, stuck, and from that point on, whenever we heard “Turn Back the Clock” somewhere- in a mall, or on classic flashback nights on the radio, we would look at each other and grimace affectionately.</div>
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And almost always, on these bus rides, I would tell you about my latest daydream, my latest idyllic scenario involving us. I was always dreaming up situations and setups where our being together was not so difficult, where your parents did not hate my guts and regulate our meetings every step of the way, where your friends and mine were more understanding and accepting of what we had, where our lives seemed to be heading in the same direction. Foreign lands, desert islands, even alien planets or other time periods might be involved in these scenarios. You said that you always liked hearing me described them, and I was only too happy to oblige.</div>
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Of course, our city being the sprawling cutthroat traffic-tangled mess that it is, there were times when we just couldn’t get any sort of ride at all- times when taxis would speed by, ignoring our energetic gesticulations, times when the buses stuffed to bursting with wriggling commuters. During such times, I would wish I had a car. Not that I would even have known how to operate one. “You should learn how to drive,” you once told me. “so you can pick me up, and I can wear skirts when we go out…” You leaned a bit closer: “Short skirts,” you stressed.</div>
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“That’s a good way to get killed,” I said. “Distract me while I’m driving. Like you’re not distracting me enough in jeans.”</div>
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“You’re sweet,” you said, punching my arm. (I miss that way you used to do me violence: punching my arm, pinching my cheek, pretending to strangle me. I suppose if I thought about it deeply enough, these gestures might seem more disturbing than endearing, so I’m happy that I didn’t.) “But, really,” you said, “are you ever going to learn how to drive? You’re almost thirty.”</div>
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I gently reminded you that I was several years away from turning thirty, and called into question your arithmetic skills. I received another punch in response, just as I thought I would.</div>
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I wonder if you’d be amused to learn that I know how to drive now. I drive a beat-up box-type Lancer that’s almost as old as my sister, who is no entering her freshman college year in La Salle. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I don’t suppose I’ll ever ride a bus in Metro Manila ever again. To me those careening hunks of metal no longer represent cheap rides to Galleria. No, they are now The Enemy, who must be outmaneuvered, outfoxed, overtaken.</div>
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Sometimes, though, when I’m on the road, I’ll pass an air-conditioned southbound bus, and wonder if you’re on it. I just know that one of these days, I’ll be drifting , and wondering , and that same bus I’m wondering about is going to take advantage of my being distracted, and slam into me and crush me like a beer can.</div>
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When that happens, I can only hope that you actually will be on that bus, and you’ll rush down, and while my blood slowly stained the asphalt underneath me, you would support my injured neck and I would sing you a few line of “Turn Back the Clock,” and tell you my latest daydream about us, the one where we meet again decades from now in an old folks’ home or a free Tai Chi session at the park and we’ll both be gray and forgetful, so forgetful that we won’t even be able to remember why we ever broke up in the first place. And we’ll get back together, our passion more fiery than ever before, and disgust our respective grandchildren with our uncontrollable public displays of tongue-kissing. “It’s easier when you don’t have any teeth anymore,” we’ll explain.</div>
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Yeah, I know. It may be time to seek psychiatric help.</div>
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Anyway. Would you even still be riding a bus, these days? You always told me about how you wanted to buy me a pickup truck with automatic gear-shifting once you had the money. I wonder what you’re doing, if you’re still doing freelance film editing, or if you ever got that producing gig at that local cable channel. That’s one of the things that bother me the most, not knowing what’s going on in your life. Not that I should care anymore, I suppose.</div>
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Believe it or not, I finally got a regular job. I finally put my Chemical Engineering degree to some use, sort of. I was hired to work on the supply chain of a big multinational company that manufactures such life-essentials as potato chips, paper towels, and deodorants. My position requires that I travel around a lot- to meet customers, to discuss their orders, to inspect the workings of factories and to attend seminars as such. I’ve been to Thailand, India, and Singapore, and that was just this year. I have eaten at the McDonald’s franchises of seven-plus nations. I’ve seen that Taj Mahal (It’s not so great.)</div>
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It’s never quite real to me, all this going to foreign lands to meet with various important people to discuss armpit roll-ons. I hope my immediate superior never learns how truly detached I am from what I’m doing. She sees each inflated order as a challenge, each tiny loss of market share as a personal affront. I can’t say I feel the same. You know what I do like about my job? The airports, and the plane rides. It’s nice to buy magazines or books you wouldn’t normally buy, just because you see them on the shelf of an airport newsstand, while you’re waiting. And it’s also nice to be a passenger again once in a while, to let somebody else worry about how to steer, how to get me where I’m going.</div>
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It was on a trip to Singapore that I picked up this issue of <em>Discover</em> magazine, and read about Martin Rees, Britain’s Astronomer Royal. It seems that- based on the idea that an array of separate big bands erupted from a primordial dense-matter state- Rees proposes that our universe is but a small, isolated corner of what he terms that multiverse: an infinite variety of universes, each with its own distinctive characteristics. “For example,” the article said, “one universe might feature six dimensions, another universe could have ultraweak gravity.”</div>
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If there is an infinity of universes, I thought, leaning back in my padded airline seat, then there might be an infinite number of worlds that are just like ours, save for some detail niggling or important, like a lost president or a different-colored sky. I closed my eyes. Anything one could imagine might be possible. I thought about you. Given an infinity of earths, all of the daydreams I ever made up about us are true, somewhere.</div>
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I thought of our time together, of how brief and bittersweet it was. I didn’t tell you something important, then. I guess it’s too late now, but it’s something that occurred to me only after we parted ways. I thought- when I was with you, I was content to just sit back and enjoy the ride, as it were, because the ride was so pleasant. And maybe that was the problem. Neither of us ever learned how to drive, if you’ll forgive the analogy. And I’m not even sure if we got on the right bus, if we were headed the right way. We were happy enough to be travelling together- to be passengers-and we never figured out who was driving.</div>
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But what does it matter? Maybe that’s all we’re meant to do, enjoy the trip while it lasts. Maybe luck or faith are the only things that keep us from delays, transfers, fatal crashes.</div>
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What if, against all the laws of probability, you happened to be on that plane bound for Singapore too? What if you had walked up that aisle, and taken the seat next to mine? What if you had asked me, then and there, what my last and fondest daydream about the two of us was, what fresh possibility I envisioned that day as I sat in the plane and looked at the clouds through a little round-cornered square of glass? This is what I would have told you:</div>
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There is an endless road somewhere, and on that road speeds a hand-me-down rattletrap bus on an endless trip, and somewhere near the back of that bus, you and I are snugly squeezed into one of the two-seater benches, with you next to the window and me next to the aisle, holding hands like schoolchildren, talking, occasionally smiling at each other, looking like we will never let go.</div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-48363781150900184172012-03-26T07:12:00.002-07:002012-03-26T07:16:16.629-07:00Of Feminism and Other Desires<br />
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<em>At times Clara would accompany her mother and two or three of her suffragette friends on their visits to factories, where they would stand on soapboxes and make speeches to the women who worked there while the foremen and the bosses, snickering and hostile, observed them from a prudent distance. Despite her tender age and complete ignorance on matters of the world, Clara grasped the absurdity of the situation and wrote in her notebook about the contrast of her mother and her friends, in their fur coats and suede boots, speaking of oppression, equality and rights to a sad, resigned group of hard-working women in denim aprons, their hands red with chilblains. From the factory the ladies would move on to the tearoom on the Plaza de Armas, where they would stop for tea and pastry and discuss the progress of their campaign, not for a moment letting this frivolous distraction divert them from their flaming ideals. At other times her mother would take her to the slums on the outskirts of the city or to the tenements, where they arrived with their car piled high with food and with clothes that Nivea and her friends sewed for the poor. On these occasions too, the child wrote with forminable intuition that charity had no effect on such monumental injustice. </em></div>
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Out of all the books I have read, this remains one of my most favorite passages. I have always had a soft spot for the bourgeois woman who has her own soft spot for the poor, and do something about it. I guess it's because it reminds me of my own convictions and the way I am. I was born in a relatively well-to-do family, with a slightly conservative mother but utterly liberal father, which is the background of most of Isabel Allende's heroines. </div>
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My lover compares me to Scarlett O'Hara because of the fire of my soul and the drive for perfection that consumes me, and at times even maddens me. With all due respect, and with the love due him, he is wrong. I do not want to be compared to such a Southern belle with no heart for anybody, not even the man who had doted and loved her without so much as appreciation from her. I see myself instead as an Allende heroine--perhaps Clara the Clairvoyant or Alba Trueba, or maybe Eva Luna of the many stories. I am a rebel, true, but not one without a cause. Why do you think, dearest lover, why do you think I am in law, fighting nail and claw to remain? What do you think I ask the God of this Universe in my heart of hearts? I want the wisdom to pursue true justice. Law is one sure way to the pursuit of this dream. (Of course you're welcome, dear heart, to share the road with me, as we also share the same goal. But that is another story.)<br />
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Reference:<br />
<br />
Allende, Isabel. <i>The House of the Spirits</i>. Translated from the Spanish by Magda Bogin. New York: Bantam Books, 1982.</div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-33060838363692173822012-03-22T21:28:00.001-07:002012-03-22T21:34:09.741-07:00Secretary of National Defense vs. Manalo G.R. No. 180906, October 7, 2008<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Facts:</b> The brothers
Raymond and Reynaldo Manalo, farmers from Bulacan who were suspected of being
members of the New People’s Army, were forcibly taken from their home, detained
in various locations, and tortured by CAFGU and military units. After several
days in captivity, the brothers Raymond and Reynaldo recognized their abductors
as members of the armed forces led by General Jovito Palparan. They also
learned that they were being held in place for their brother, Bestre, a
suspected leader of the communist insurgents. While in captivity, they met
other <i>desaperacidos </i>(including the
still-missing University of the Philippines students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn
Cadapan) who were also suspected of being communist insurgents and members of
the NPA. After eighteen months of restrained liberty, torture and other
dehumanizing acts, the brothers were able to escape and file a petition for the
writ of <i>amparo</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Issue:</b> Whether or not
the right to freedom from fear is or can be protected by existing laws. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Held</b>: Yes. The right
to the security of person is not <i>merely</i>
a textual hook in Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution. At its core is
the immunity of one’s person against government intrusion. The right to
security of person is “freedom from fear,” a guarantee of bodily and psychological
integrity and security. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To whom may the
oppressed, the little ones, the <i>desaperacidos</i>,
run to, if the Orwellian sword of the State, wielded recklessly by the military
or under the guise of police power, is directed against them? The law thus gives
the remedy of the writ of <i>amparo</i>, in
addition to the rights and liberties already protected by the Bill of Rights. <i>Amparo</i>, literally meaning “to protect,”
is borne out of the long history of Latin American and Philippine human rights
abuses—often perpetrated by the armed forces against farmers thought to be
communist insurgents, anarchists or brigands. The writ serves to both prevent
and cure extralegal killings, enforced disappearances, and threats thereof,
giving the powerless a powerful remedy to ensure their rights, liberties, and
dignity. <i>Amparo</i>, a triumph of natural
law that has been embodied in positive law, gives voice to the preys of silent
guns and prisoners behind secret walls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(This digest is not meant for Constitutional law. Rather, this is written in fulfillment of an assignment in Legal Philosophy.) </span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-33430242007480136932012-03-22T20:59:00.001-07:002012-03-22T21:00:33.591-07:00Take-Home Exam in Legal Philosophy<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ESSAY <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Is law necessary for the ordering of society?</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> – “Societies think they
operate by something called morality, but they don't. They operate by something
called law. x x x The question is not ‘Was it wrong?’ but ‘Was it legal?’ and
not by our law, but by the law at the time. x x x Oh yes, the law is narrow.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The above quotation from the 2008 film <i>The Reader</i> succinctly articulates the notion that society needs the
law in order to function effectively. Law is a cultural force, one of many, but
stronger than most, and is thus determinative of the shape and social relations
in society. Law is also rigid and narrow, and thus sets a definite framework
for society. It needs to be such, as it should regulate the other facets of
society, so that all may enjoy the blessings of liberty. This materialist view,
along with criticisms of this view, will be further discussed in my succeeding
answers in this examination for Legal Philosophy. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">What is justice</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> – There are as many
definitions of justice as there are philosophers. One of the more well-known
and well-loved notions of justice is justice as the ultimate manifestation of
the divine will and eternal law, as some followers of Sts. Thomas and Augustine
would follow, who in turn follow the Greek traditions of Plato and Aristotle,
who, in a nutshell, describe <b>justice as
the ultimate virtue</b>. I would like to suggest, however, an alternative view
of justice in line with my own leanings towards the Left: <b>Justice is a perception of social relations in balance.</b> It is one
aspect of a sense of social cohesion or integration. The radical broadening of perspective which
sociological interpretation seeks makes it possible to enrich understandings of
the social condition of justice. The
consistent focus of sociological inquiry on the social, the systematic, and the
empirical provides the essential dimensions of this enriched
understanding. Sociological inquiry
cannot abolish disagreement as to what justice demands in any particular
situation. But it can reveal the meaning
of justice claims in a broader perspective by systematically analyzing the
empirical conditions that provide postulates underlying these claims. Rejecting
the view that any particular natural morality exists, justice eludes a
particular definition for the social view of things. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The law as the
will of the State</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> – Law is a combination of the rules
of behavior (norms), established or sanctioned by state authority, reflecting
the will of the ruling class—rules of behavior whose application is assured by
the coercive power of the State for the purpose of protecting, strengthening
and developing relationships and procedures suitable and beneficial to the
ruling class and the status quo.” By [the base of the superstructure] Marx
means also what human beings do—that is, he refers to their material activities
or ‘production and reproduction.’ But
those, like all human activities, are thinking activities, because it is the
essence of human beings to think about what they do. The distinction between base and
superstructure is not one between matter and does not think and thinking that
is not material. At some time in the history of a State, the practices are put
into words, described, codified, and defended—and those . . . form the
superstructure. . . . The base is what we do; the superstructure is
how we talk about it. . . . It seems
eminently plausible that the base determines the superstructure: Our practices
determine how we describe and justify them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Intertwining of Law, Religion and Morality – </span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Law, under the view of
the Positivist school of jurisprudence, can only be justified if a contrast can
exist between the moral and legal norms. It presupposes that law is moral by
nature, and such morality is absolute, so it becomes meaningless to demand that
the law ought to be what it already is. In such a case, what is moral is
dictated by the will of God as is made known to men through revelation,
following the religious view of morality. Alexander of Hales, an intellectual
disciple of St. Augustine of Hippo, succinctly articulates: “the eternal law is
the seal and the natural moral law is its impression in the rational nature of
man, which is in turn an image of God.” This immanent natural law, based on the
divine law, can never be destroyed. Good needs to be done: such is the supreme
commandment of God. Good is that which corresponds to nature, and what is
contrary to it is bad. Good is to be done is the same as the realization of one’s
essential nature. Under this view, there is no such thing as a “bad law” or an “unethical
law”; positive law needs to be pertaining to reason, and reason is the voice of
God within men’s hearts. Good is justice, that which corresponds to essential
nature. God is then justice. Men are always in need of a clearly prescribed and
adequately sanctioned system of norms, which emanate from an authority within
ourselves—the voice of God in our conscience—and thus the object of positive
law, combined with moral and the eternal law, is to render the citizen
virtuous. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Immanuel Kant, the greatest German philosopher of the eighteenth century,
evolved his own theory of law—a development of the natural law theory. The source of his views concerning law in his
doctrine of morality: he asserted that morality is based upon a supreme moral
law, which depends neither upon the experience of the practical activity of
human beings nor upon historical conditions and social relationships:<b> it is eternal and changeless</b>. It is neither created nor conditioned by any
person or anything. It exists <i>per se</i> within each individual. It dictates its commands to the individual
unqualifiedly: categorically; wherefore Kant termed these commands of the moral
law ‘a categorical imperative.’
Individuals must carry out the moral law without reference to any
considerations of advantage, interest, or expediency, and regardless of their
own propensities and sympathies. If one
does good to another from pity, love, friendship, or the like, his conduct will
not be moral conduct since he is guided by worldly motives and not alone by
respect for the moral law. According to
Kant, therefore, human conduct is moral conduct if it conforms to the moral law
and is enjoined solely and exclusively by consciousness of moral duty with no
other and foreign motives whatsoever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The norms of morality are thus isolated from the actual life of human
society and personality: from human relationships and from all genuine reality,
in general—from everything that exists. The
content of Kant’s moral law—expressed in the form of the categorical
imperative, is general and formal in character: ‘so act that the rule of your
conduct may be the rule of each and every one.’
No man can be considered a means to an end; he is himself an end and
must possess an independent value qua individual. Accordingly the categorical imperative of
morality comprises within itself the rule: ‘so act that each man may ever be
regarded as an end, <i>not</i> as a
means.’ Kant thus linked his doctrine of
morality with the idea of the independent value of personality, whose
will—within the moral sphere—is completely free and seeks to fulfill the moral
law—and is not defined by any external causes or circumstances. From these propositions of his doctrine of
morality, Kant draws his doctrine of law: law has its foundations in morality;
the purport of norms of law, as of norms of morality, is that human conduct
conform with the moral law; law differs from morality in that morality is
concerned with inward human experiences, requiring not only that man fulfill
the requirements of the moral law, but also that such fulfillment be motivated
solely by respect for the moral law and by no other stimulus whatsoever;
whereas law is concerned only with external human conduct, being satisfied by
the fact <i>per se</i> of compliance with
the moral law, regardless of the motivation inducing such compliance. The leading principle of law is the freedom
of each personality, wherefore—according to Kant—<i>the essence of law is that the freedom of the one be compatible with
the freedom of each and every one.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">DEFINITION OF
TERMS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Physical Law</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
– The common consciousness of the people (the Zeitgeist and Volkgeist) from
which law originates may be discovered not by the form of abstract notions, but
in the form of a lively intuition about institutions of law in their organic
connection. Savigny stresses that the
common consciousness lies in the biological nature of the people. Hence, Savigny considers the nation as an
organism, that is born, grows, wanes, and dies.
The law is an essential characteristic of this organism. “The law grows together with its waning, and
strengthens together with the strengthening of the nation, and in the end dies
when the nation loses its very nationhood.” Karl Marx described positive law as
“merely the will of [the ruling] class, erected into legislation—a will whose
content is defined by the material conditions of the existence of [the ruling]
class.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Natural Law</b> – Classical Natural Law Theory provides the traditional
way of viewing the world or reality.
Given the general order of the universe, there exists a natural law
which prescribes a set of duties which men ought morally to obey or comply with
depending on his status or place in society.
Hence 'duty' is the primary moral concept. Man's rights are situated within that general
order, and are ultimately based on his duties.
For Natural Rights Theory, the primary moral concept is that of
'right'. Men naturally have rights. Rights exist in human beings by nature. Rights thus are primary and duty derivative. Duties are derived from the existence of
these natural rights. In particular,
because all men have rights, each man has the duty to respect the other's
rights.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Moral Law</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
– In some definitions, moral law stems from the Law of Moses, or other laws
that may stem from the intertwining of morality and religion when it comes to
the organization of society and the codification of law. It is also from moral
law that the notions of crimes mala in se are derived; moral law dictates that
murder, adultery or theft are wrong because they are morally wrong. Likewise,
civil laws on inheritance, marriage and divorce may trace their origins in
moral law. In an alternative view provided by German philosopher Immanuel Kant,
a good will is a will whose decisions are wholly determined by moral demands or
as he often refers to this, by the Moral Law. Human beings view this Law as a
constraint on their desires, and hence a will in which the Moral Law is
decisive is motivated by the thought of duty. A holy or divine will, if it
exists, though good, would not be good because it is motivated by thoughts of
duty. A holy will would be entirely free from desires that might operate
independently of morality. It is the presence of desires that could operate
independently of moral demands that makes goodness in human beings a
constraint, an essential element of the idea of ‘duty’. So in analyzing
unqualified goodness as it occurs in imperfectly rational creatures such as
ourselves, we are investigating the idea of being motivated by the thought that
we are constrained to act in certain ways that we might not want to, or the
thought that we have moral duties. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Like natural
law, moral law is never written, unless incorporated by the legislation into
positive law, or that such natural or moral law is embodied into the common law
system of a State. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Divine Law</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
– Divine law is any law, rule, or system that believes that laws are passed down
by a divine figure to mankind. It is also called the eternal law or the law of
God. The religious view that such divine law is written by God and made known
to man through revelation. As such, it is ultimately impossible to comprehend
fully what the eternal law is; St. Thomas Aquinas writes that “human law's
purpose is the temporal tranquility of the state, a purpose which the law
attains by coercively prohibiting <i>external acts</i> to the extent
that these evils can disturb the peaceful state of the state.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Positive Law</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
– Written or common law followed, maintained and developed by a certain State. Following
the Augustinian view, a putative positive law is valid when it does not
violate, infringe upon, or is contrary to the natural rights of an individual;
otherwise it is invalid. Under legal systems that operate with and through a
Bill of Rights, such as in the Philippines and the United States, a particular
law or statute is construed as unconstitutional or invalid not only because it
fails to conform to the valid procedures for the enactment of a statute, which
is known as procedural due process, but also because its substantive content
precisely violates the rights of individuals as embodied in the Constitution,
referred to as substantive due process. However this may be, an alternative
school of thought might raise the argument that positive law is not necessarily
the child of moral law; as with the Jim Crow laws of the old US South and the
Nuremberg laws of Nazi Germany, the laws to which these types of ‘actions from
duty’ conform may be morally despicable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two trends are discernible in the
natural law school. The
first—represented by Locke, Montesquieu, and others—based the theory of natural
law on the doctrine of the individual, inherent rights of man and citizen:
immutable, inalienable rights given to him by nature, and incapable of being
taken from him by the state. This
doctrine of the inalieanable rights of the personality found expression during
the French bourgeois revolution (1789) in the famous <i>Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen</i>; proclaiming man’s rights
to freedom, property, and security—and his right to resist oppression—as
eternal and inalienable. This trend in
the natural law school demonstrated the bourgeois liberalism which demanded
freedom to develop capitalist relationships and private property. The other trend—of which Rousseau is the most
eminent representative—conceived of natural law as a manifestation of the will
of the people, of the popular sovereignty.
According to this view, the rights of citizens merge in the general will
of the people, and the equality of citizens is the basic content of natural
law. From the viewpoint of the materialist doctrine of society, such a theory
is utterly arbitrary: champions of the natural law theory were in accord in
asserting the existence of some rational, eternal, and unchanging law; but when
they were required to define the content of this natural law and to establish
precisely what norms are natural norms, each author proceeded in his own
fashion, and the result was that nothing in the law appeared changeless. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-92129648371249327192012-02-28T09:10:00.003-08:002012-02-28T09:12:43.197-08:00The Law and Literature<br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because I stubbornly believe that it is not the artist's job to succumb to despair but to find an antidote to the emptiness of existence. (Quote from Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris)</span></strong></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 37(1), FC.<em>Oedipus Rex, </em>Sophocles. Jocasta, queen of Corinth, unwittingly marries her son Oedipus. (Marami pang pwede sa<em> Oedipus Rex</em> ni Sophocles. That guy is great.) For stories of incest in the Bible, see my notes sa Art 337 ng RPC.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 37(2), FC. <em>The Children of Hurin</em>, JRR Tolkien. The titular characters, Turin and his sister Nienor, lived under a vengeful god's curse. Yada yada yada, they ended up getting married, and upon discovering their kinship, commit suicide. Bible: depende sa tradition na makakasalamuha natin, Abraham and Sarah are either half-siblings or first-degree cousins. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 114, RPC. Treason. Just hit the history books. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 117, RPC. Espionage. Hit the history books!</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 122, RPC. Piracy in general and mutiny x x x. Ahoy there, matey! Wala akong maisip na specific example.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 134, RPC. Rebellion/Insurrection. HIT THE HISTORY BOOKS!</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 142, RPC. Inciting to Sedition. <em>Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas</em>, Aurelio Tolentino. Just ask me the plot and what happened when said play was staged. Mas obvious na sagot: <em>Noli </em>at <em>Fili</em>. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 246, RPC. Parricide.<em> Oedipus Rex</em>, Sophocles. Oedipus unwittingly kills his father, Laius, in what appears to be valid self-defense. So does penalty attach? (It's noteworthy that the original Athenian legend from which Sophocles based his tragedy did not state that there was any self-defense or any other exempting, mitigating, or justifying circumstances whatsoever.) </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 247, RPC. Death Under Special Circumstances. "A Gentleman's Agreement," isang Filipino short story na medyo contemporary lang, but for the life of me hindi ko na maalala yung author. Story goes like this: Husband kills unfaithful Wife thru poison then hires wife's Paramour, an attorney, to represent him in court. Come to think of it, parricide to, hindi to kasama sa Art 247, dahil hindi naman nahuli ni Husband si Paramour at Wife. Totoong halimbawa:<em> Blood Wedding</em> ni Lorca, a brilliant Spanish playwright. Bride marries Groom, then elopes with her Former Lover, has sex with him in the forest, Groom catches them, Groom and Former Lover duel to the death. Actually kung nabuhay si Groom pwede niyang i-avail ang Art 247. So talagang wala akong example ng Art 247.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 248, lahat ng circumstances except (2), (3) at (4). Murder. "The Cask of Amontillado," Edgar Allan Poe. 1. May means to weaken the defense nung pinatay ni Montresor si Fortunato, given that nilasing muna niya ang biktima. 5. Kung di ba naman evident premeditation yung buong plot ay hindi ko na alam kung ano 'yon. 6. Kung hindi ba naman "inhumanly augmenting the suffering of the victim" maituturing ang paglibing ng buhay kay Fortunato, ewan ko na lang kung ano 'yon. Interestingly, Montresor tells the tale of how he murdered Fortunato only after fifty years, so nag-prescribe na 'yung crime. Wahaha. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 253. Giving Assistance to Suicide. Most, if not all, samurai stories have this. 'Eto ang favorite ko. <em>Shogun </em>by James Clavell. Half the samurai mentioned in that story committed hara-kiri, and being samurai, they had seconds who had the <em>honor </em>of chopping off their heads. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 255. Infanticide. Marami 'yan, di ko lang maalala at this point. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 260. Responsibility of Participants to a Duel. <em>The Three Musketeers</em> ni Alexandre Dumas (pere). And basically every other story na may gentlemen who prefer to settle things over sabres or pistols. (May conspiracy din siguro na contemplated sa "One for all, all for one!")</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 261. Challenging to a Duel. See immediately preceding entry. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art. 262. Mutilation, first paragraph. Basically what people did, centuries ago, to keep boys' voices abnormally beautiful, ethereal, and high-pitched. On the other side of the globe, basically what courtiers did centuries ago, if they happened to serve in court or in kings' harems. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 266-A and B. Rape. Naku kalurki. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 272. Slavery. <em>Genesis</em>. Nung binenta ng mga kapatid ni Jose si Jose sa mga taga-Ehipto. Yada yada yada. Also, Margaret Mitchell's<em> Gone with the Wind</em>. And basically every story that features a negro slave of a Caucasian master. The list goes on. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 275 (3). Abandoning of Persons in danger x x x; 3. Abandoned Child under Seven Years.<em> The Silmarillion</em>, JRR Tolkien. Somewhere in that Old Testament-esque tale tells the story of the cruel warriors who, after killing King Dior of Doriath, left his two infant sons to starve in the forest.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ar 278 (1), (3), at (5). Exploitation of Minors.<em> Sans Famille</em>, Hector Malote. Maybe some of us remember a 90s cartoon called "Remi" whose titular character is sold by his adoptive father to a gypsy vagrant. May nobela yon at kasalanan ng nobelang iyon kung bakit ako naging literature major and hence, a law student. UNBROKEN CHAIN OF EVENTS YAN. Wahaha.<em> Sans Famille</em>literally means "no family" or "without a family" sa napakahirap bigkasing wikang Pranses.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art 311. Theft of Property of the National Library and National Museum. Gusto ko actually 'tong gawin, pero bawal. Wahaha. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More to come pag sinipag ako. Wahaha. </span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-37329788992582205672012-02-10T10:01:00.000-08:002012-02-10T10:01:17.347-08:00A Fairy Tale of Sorts<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>(This is a project for my Legal Writing class. Our instructions were to pretend to be a lawyer-professor with a column on a newspaper of general circulation, and write about our view on the current impeachment process. For fun, I made my persona a novelist instead of a mere columnist, but God knows how difficult it is to be a practicing lawyer and a novelist at once.) </i></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Legal Schizophrenia</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>Professor CMG Lucero teaches Constitutional Law at the University of X. She is a senior partner at the Lucero and Lucero Law Offices. On her spare time, she puts on the finishing touches on her first novel, </em>A Touch of Red on Robes of Black<em>.</em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As early as January 18, 2012, I have expressed views in my blawg <em>Closet Fantasies </em>my views on the impeachment. In the entry “Legal Schizophrenia,” I made a comparison between my conflicting thoughts on the impeachment: that of a bohemian artist/novelist vis-à-vis a lawyer-professor hoping to impart on the future generation of lawyers a learned veneration for the sacred institution of law. This paper now seeks to elaborate on a doodle I wrote that day. Now, my artist’s intuition tells me that there <em>might</em> be dubious matters unbecoming his position that the Chief Justice hides; and yet as a law professor, presumption of innocence and good faith are among the first things I impart upon my students. Meanwhile, I made a compromise and an analysis of sorts regarding the impeachment <em>before trial commenced</em>. I also classified the two major views regarding the impeachment: the liberal view and the conservative view.[1] (In a way, the discussion regarding the two views has been moot, considering the performance of the prosecution panel. I will elaborate on this later.)</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The “Conservative” and the “Liberal” Views</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most of my esteemed colleagues take what I classify as the “conservative” view on the impeachment. I use the term “conservative” here to refer to “doubtful view of the desirability of altering proven institutions and societal values. Respect for authority, custom, and tradition permeate a conservative value system. In particular, changes in the moral ordering of society are seen as very suspicious and probably harmful.[2]” As it is basically a numbers game, some of us believe it has since become a tool by the executive that already has power of a good number of allies in both Houses of Congress, to gain control of the judiciary. Conspiracy theories abound that once the Chief Justice is successfully removed from office via impeachment, the remaining justices would not dare oppose the administration in any of their decisions and resolutions. This would then lead to an abnormal situation wherein the independence and interdependence of the branches would fall under the whims and caprices of the Chief Executive and his allies (or pork barrel-controlled puppets) in Congress.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Generally, I disagree with the conservative view. I did not consider a so-called “attack” on the Chief Justice as an attack on the institution of the judiciary. I did not think—and I still do not think—that trying the Chief Justice would threaten the autonomy of the Judiciary, as the Chief Justice is not in any way the Supreme Court in the manner that Louis XIV is the State. Putting it candidly, Mr. Justice Corona simply cannot claim the divine right of kings (or chief justices) by saying, “La Cour suprême, c’est moi.” He is simply an officer, albeit a high-ranking one, bound just like anyone else under the rule of law. Granting him due process therefore consists in the obligation to have him tried by a competent court (i.e., the Senate sitting as the impeachment court) for violations alleged to him.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This now leads to a discussion of the “liberal” view—that impeaching the Chief Justice, or any member of the Supreme Court for that matter, would threaten the independence of the judiciary and the interdependence of the tripartite system of government. (Note that the word “liberal” does not make any reference whatsoever to the political party bearing the same name; it is used verba legis.)</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I use the term “liberal” to describe what may be briefly summed up in the theory of New Liberalism vis-à-vis social justice, where the good of the community is harmonious with the rights of the individual. Connecting this ideology with the impeachment, it is, in a nutshell, the right of the people, through their representatives, to remove from power he whom they no longer trust, without prejudice to the branches of government. Taking from Raul Pangalangan, former Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law, in his article “Save the Constitution from the Court[3],” the “courts do not have a monopoly to divine its [the Constitution’s] meanings. Holmes recognized that ‘legislatures are ultimate guardians of the liberties and welfare of the people in quite as great a degree as the courts.’” The people themselves also have a say on the Constitution! And if it is their will that the Chief Justice, who has been alleged to have committed a multitude of offenses including a culpable violation of the Constitution and a betrayal of public trust, then their representatives in Congress have the duty to see to it that the will of the sovereign Filipino people is followed. Such an act then does not constitute an offense against the independence of the judiciary or even the interdependence of the branches of government. It is merely a manifestation of the system of checks and balances.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Constitutional Crisis?</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As of the time I’m writing, the Supreme Court has just rendered a decision issuing a temporary restraining order on the subpoena regarding the Chief Justice’s dollar accounts, albeit the same body has deferred to issue another TRO on the entire impeachment proceeding[4]. (This latter act would indeed create a constitutional crisis alive and kicking, as the impeachment court is, though sui generis, a coequal branch of government. To put it candidly, it serves as the <em>sovereign people</em>’s court trying the moral fitness of an impeachable officer, spearheaded by the people’s elected representatives. This is also why apart from “removal from office and disqualification to hold any office under the Republic of the Philippines[5],” there is no other sanction for the impeached officer coming from the impeachment court. Regardless of the result of the impeachment, however, the officer may be liable and subject to prosecution, trial and punishment according to law.[6])</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Though there is no argument at all about the authority of the Senate sitting as an impeachment court to hear and decide on the case against the Chief Justice, where does the authority of the same body end with regard to existing laws, and especially vis-à-vis the constitutional mandate of the Court to wield the judicial power, defined as “the duty of the courts of justice to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable, and to determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government[7]”? With regard to the temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court on the subpoena on the Chief Justice’s dollar accounts on a number of banks, would a constitutional crisis ensue if the Senate as an impeachment court still insist on disclosing said documents, particularly as the impeachment court is on equal footing with the other branches of Government? Where would the power of the impeachment court with regard to the controversial documents end and judicial power on determining grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction begin? These are questions I hope will, for the duration of the trial, become moot and academic, as a possible showdown between those two bodies are most definitely detrimental to our legal system and country as a whole.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unread and Unprepared</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Do not be hasty, that is my motto,” said Treebeard in <em>The Lord of the Rings</em>. I must now express utter dissatisfaction with the conduct of the prosecution panel as a whole. It must be remembered now that there have been allegations that the 188 representatives did not fully read the text of the Articles of Impeachment, but rather signed it hastily. It has now been confirmed by no less than Representative Farinas of the prosecution panel.[8] Was such an act done because in the back of their minds, the representatives knew that the burden of prosecuting lay on a select few of their brethren, and that of judgment on their peers in the Senate[9]?</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is also unbecoming for the prosecution that as early as Day 2 of the trial, the prosecution brought out computer-generated documents without any mark of authentication whatsoever. Needless to say, Presiding Officer Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile refused to acknowledge such.[10] Has the prosecution forgotten a cardinal rule</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a law professor it is utterly irresistible for me to draw an analogy between the prosecution panel and law students. Most, if not all, law students prefer to excuse themselves from class lest they face the terror and embarrassment of coming unprepared. Has the prosecution panel forgotten what is like to be a law student fearing shame and humiliation at the prospect of being caught unprepared? </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And as if it is a joke, the prosecution panel continued to stage a mediocre performance in the afternoon “Coronavela.” Such is seen when Megaworld witness Noli Hernandez’s testimony backfired on the prosecution’s allegation that the Chief Justice received an enormous discount on his penthouse unit in posh The Bellagio Towers in Taguig City. Instead of presenting evidence for an alleged violation against the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act[11] (which was not even alleged in any of the Articles of Impeachment), Hernandez’s testimony provided that the forty percent discount would have been available to anyone and everyone at the time it was given.[12] On February 2, 2012, Lead Prosecutor Representative Tupas responded to Senator Escudero’s query that only 24 out of the 45 assets revealed to the media beforehand would be presented in the prosecution’s evidence. (In the first place, why even disclose the information to the media even before the trial commenced? I would discuss this later.) These are but a few of the bloopers of the trial, notwithstanding Senator Santiago’s sky-high blood pressure level or the occasional jokes brought about when Senator Lapid stood up to ask the prosecution questions on February 12.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Media-Savvy Compensation</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Which leads me to my next point. I believe that the prosecution has erred in disclosing to the media the 45 alleged assets and properties of the Chief Justice even before the impeachment commenced. While the layman—and even the bohemian in me—sees this as a probable ploy on part of the prosecution to gain public sympathy, it is nevertheless against a strict interpretation of Rule 13.02 of the Code of Professional Responsibility, which states: “A lawyer shall not make public statements in the media regarding a pending case tending <em>to arouse public opinion for or against a party.</em>” (Emphasis provided.) What is the point of disclosing such to the media? The prosecution knew as much as everybody else that the impeachment trial would be fully covered by the media, and all such allegations would eventually be released.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While the trial itself may not be austerely categorized as “trial by publicity[13],” the prosecution should have, in the</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">name of professionalism at the very least, refrained from calling a press conference announcing the number of assets the Chief Justice allegedly owns. Absent the showing that such would influence the decisions of the senator-judges, it cannot be held that the Corona impeachment is a trial by publicity. Because even when public opinion holds the Chief Justice in utmost contempt, such cannot <em>directly</em>influence or even coerce the senator judges with regard to their decisions the proceedings. I say directly, because the impeachment, as aforementioned, is a way wherein certain public officers become answerable to the sovereign people <em>through</em> their representatives; the people themselves cannot vote or decide on any impeachment proceeding.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conclusion: When the Novelist (And Everyone Else) Faces Reality</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Among the first things I have learned when I began to study law was to avoid presumption of guilt and bad faith when reasonable doubt and preponderance of evidence. As a humanities enthusiast, where limitless imagination is highly prized and authority is, as a matter of course and principle, critically and creatively questioned, the law requires a strict compliance with the rules, no if’s and but’s. Imagination and speculation may serve a prosecutor or a defense counsel only so much, but it is the establishment of cold, hard facts vis-à-vis positive law that determines the outcome of any judicial proceeding. In the case of Chief Justice Corona, while popular opinion and an unrestrained free spirit tend to believe that there <em>are</em> anomalies, the rule of law, which is supreme over any art, dictates that due process, not unbridled imagination and/or speculation, should prevail. In the immortal words Themistocles to Eurybiades, “Strike, but hear me first![14]” the Chief Justice is entitled to a fair hearing. And this is what he indeed gets, notwithstanding conjectures to the contrary.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A post-script I might also add to this paper. I believe that the Chief Justice, regardless of his guilt or otherwise, is already “damaged goods.” Looking at it from the liberal point of view, the recent move by the defense to have the Supreme Court issue a Temporary Restraining Order on the entire impeachment procedure seems to me a most desperate strategy. Creating a constitutional crisis in order to delay the trial and impede the speedy disposition of justice might be a good tactic. At any rate, if I were the defense, I would have capitalized on the manifest unpreparedness of the prosecution, which seems from many angles wielding fair enough substance but devoid of form. But no amount of technicalities that the defense might provide and use to block evidence, however devoid of form, would save the Chief Justice now. It is my humble opinion that the only honorable recourse for him would be to resign, and spare the nation tedious hours and expenses for Coronavela; and as we do not live in a Confucian society wherein shame is purged by the tonsure or the <em>tantō</em> blade, his mere admission of his sins—whatever they may be—and the return of what is not rightfully his, might be considered enough.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Endnotes</span></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[1] Lucero, Consuelo. Legal Schizophrenia. [Blog]. Retrieved on February 10, 2012 from http://closet-fantasies.blogspot.com/2012/01/legal-schizophrenia.html</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[2] Riley, Jim L. Moderate Political Ideologies. Retrieved on February 10, 2012 from http://academic.regis.edu/jriley/libcons.htm</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[3] <em>Philippine Daily Inquirer</em>, December 29, 2011</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[4] http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/142717/sc-bars-impeachment-court-from-opening-corona-foreign-currency-accounts</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[5] Art. XI, Sec. 3(7), 1987 Constitution</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[6] <em>Ibid</em>.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[7] Art. VIII, Sec. 1(2), 1987 Constitution</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[8] http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=63&articleId=775420; http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/141409/prosecution-team-member-admits-corona-impeach-complaint-poorly-crafted</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[9] Art. XI, Sec 3(1). The House of Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment. x x x (6) The Senate shall have the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment. x x x</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[10] I watched the telecast of GMA News TV on January 17, 2012. The impeachment trial formally commenced a day before, on January 16.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[11] RA No. 3019, as amended. Sec. 3 (b) thereof provides: Directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any gift, present, share, percentage, or benefit, for himself or any other person, in connection with any contract or transaction between the Government and any other party, wherein the public officer in his official capacity has to intervene under the law.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[12] http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/01/31/12/megaworld-corona-deal-we-uphold-highest-ethical-standard and http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/01/31/12/megaworld-corona-deal-we-uphold-highest-ethical-standard. In a nutshell, Hernandez testified that the enormous P10 million discount to the Chief Justice was because of the combination of a discount on punctual payment, a storm that caused water damage to the penthouse unit, and the global financial crisis of 2008 that caused, among others, the prices of real estate property to go down.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[13] In order to warrant a finding of “prejudicial” publicity, there must be an allegation and proof that the judges have been unduly influenced, not simply that they might be, by the “barrage” of publicity. (<em>Martelino vs. Alejandro</em>, G.R. No. L-30894, March 25, 1970)</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[14] Justice Isagani A. Cruz. “Due Process of Law,” <em>Constitutional Law</em>. Quezon City: Central Bookstore. 2007.</span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-23171542355837798642012-02-01T12:13:00.001-08:002012-02-01T12:47:01.790-08:00Valenzuela vs. Kalayaan<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
SPOUSES JOSE T. VALENZUELA and GLORIA VALENZUELA, Petitioners,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">vs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">KALAYAAN DEVELOPMENT & INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION, Respondent.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">G.R. No. 163244 June 22, 2009<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Ponente: Peralta, J. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Facts:</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Kalayaan Development & Industrial Corporation discovered that Spouses Jose and Gloria Valenzuela had occupied and built a house on a parcel of land it owned, and demanded that they vacate said property. Upon negotiation, however, petitioners and Kalayaan entered a <i>Contract to Sell</i> wherein the petitioners would purchase 236 square meters of the subject property for P1,416,000 in twelve equal monthly installments. The contract further stated that upon failure to pay any of said installments, petitioners would be liable for liquidated penalty at 3% a month compounded monthly until fully paid. Kalayaan would also execute the deed of absolute sale <i>only</i> upon full payment. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Petitioners were only able to pay monthly installments amounting to a total of P208, 000.00. They then requested Kalayaan to issue a deed of sale for 118 square meters of the lot where their house stood, arguing that since they had paid half the purchase price, or a total of P708,000.00 representing 118 square meters of the property. Kalayaan, on the other hand, sent two demand letters asking petitioners to pay their outstanding obligation including agreed penalties. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Gloria Valenzuela’s sister, Juliet Giron, assumed the remaining balance for the 118 square meters of the subject property at P10,000.00 per month to Kalayaan, which the latter accepted for and in behalf of Gloria. Thereafter, Kalayaan demanded that petitioners pay their outstanding obligation, but were unheeded. Kalyaan then filed a Complaint fot the Rescission of Contract and Damages against petitioners. The RTC of Caloocan rendered a Decision in favor of Kalayaan, rescinding the contract between the parties and ordering petitioners to vacate the premises. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Petitioners sought recourse from the CA. They aver that the CA failed to see that the original contract between petitioners and Kalayaan was altered, changed, modified and restricted as a consequence of the change in the person of the principal debtor (Sps. Valenzuela to Juliet). When Kalayaan agreed to a monthly amortization of P10,000.00 per month the original contract was changed, and that the same recognized Juliet’s capacity to pay and her designation as the new debtor. Nevertheless, the CA affirmed the RTC ruling. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Issue:</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> If the original contract was novated and the principal obligation to pay for the remaining half of the subject property was transferred from petitioners to Juliet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Held:</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> No. <i>Novation is never presumed.</i> Novation is the extinguishment of an obligation by the substitution or change of the obligation by a subsequent one which extinguishes or modifies the first, either by changing the object or principal conditions, or by substituting another in place of the debtor, or by subrogating a third person in the rights of the creditor. Parties to a contract must expressly agree that they are abrogating their old contract in favor of a new one. In absence of an express agreement, novation takes place only when the old and new obligations are incompatible on every point. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">These are the indispensable requisites of novation: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; margin-left: 48.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1) There must be a previous valid obligation;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; margin-left: 48.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">2) There must be an agreement of the parties concerned to a new contract;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; margin-left: 48.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">3) There must be the extinguishment of the old contract; and<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; margin-left: 48.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">4) There must be the validity of the new contract.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In the instant case, none of the aforementioned requisites are present, as Kalayaan never agreed to the creation of a new contract between them or Juliet. Kalayaan’s acceptance of the late payments made by Juliet is, at best, an act of tolerance on part of Kalayaan that could not have modified the contract. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 24.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The non-fulfillment by petitioners of their obligation to pay, which is a suspensive condition for the obligation of Kalayaan to sell and deliver the title to the property, rendered the Contract to Sell ineffective and without force and effect. The parties stand as if the conditional obligation had never existed; Kalayaan cannot be compelled to transfer ownership of the property to petitioners. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-30029050174064086722012-01-24T11:43:00.003-08:002012-01-24T11:43:25.797-08:00The Song of the Ainur | A Parody by CMG Lucero<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the Beginning was Eru, who because he was bored created his own orchestra, the Ainur. So the Ainur sang and sang, accompanied by lutes and viols and harps, sometimes alone, sometimes in duets, sometimes in small groups, but never together.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Melkor, mightiest of the Ainur, had the most unusual musical gifts, but was bored by simple classical instruments. Sure, he <em>liked </em>them, but he thought they could be more. So he invented the genre Heavy Metal! He liked the way the guitars--which before just played classical--became distorted when made electric. So pleased and proud was he that he set up his own band. Sauron was his ever-loyal vocalist, with the Balrogs on guitars and drums. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other Ainur, however, the ones who enjoyed only classical, said Melkor was simply distorting the music. Some even claimed what he made was <em>not </em>even music. And thus it came to pass that at this point, Iluvatar raised his left hand. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furious at his humiliation, but determined to have his music stick it up to The Man, Melkor sat down and composed Power Metal. In the greatness of his mind and his music and his band, he unleashed its fast upbeats, singing of fair realms and ladies and dragons and castles and other things Nightwish and Stratovarius sing about. Melkor enjoyed it tremendously, and its effect on his classical-loving fellows. And Melkor laughed his evil <em>Bwahahaha!</em> for the first time.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now Iluvatar was secretly amused, but he did not show it. He raised his right hand, and Melkor's "noise" was subdued. The Ainur were relieved, finally that stupid heavy metal was gone! But Melkor was even more humiliated, and was determined to have his revenge....</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...and he conceived of Death Metal, and Thrash, and Deathgrind... all those things that depict gore and bloodlust and death inevitable... the Ainur were in despair! </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now this time, Iluvatar was mad. Melkor had gone too far! His symphonic orchestra was turned into something quite.... savage. He raised his two hands therefore. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Mighty are the Ainur, and mightiest among them is Melkor; but that he may know, and all the Ainur, that I am Iluvatar, and those things ye have sung, I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempeth this shalt prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined..."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And thus Melkor, father of metal and whose musical genius was unappreciated by his fellows, became the lord of darkness. But then, everything has a place in Iluvatar's mind... so death metal just <em>had to</em> be part of music.</span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-20472254418700905912012-01-24T11:43:00.001-08:002012-01-24T11:52:05.147-08:00<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-18809216360203433402012-01-18T09:55:00.000-08:002012-01-18T09:55:44.039-08:00Legal Schizophrenia<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The most recent developments in the Corona impeachment has led to a schism in my thoughts, mainly between Consuelo, Atty-Trying-To-Be (let's call her "Connie"), and Elo, the ordinary person with a rather moody streak of Marxism (she's just plain old "Elo" for the rest of this text). Connie, a student of law, must always be prepared to think both ways--how to convict as well as defend any client in any case that might arise, wherein guilt of the accused or otherwise is immaterial. She must sift through facts, know the proper laws and jurisprudence to help the accused get away with their offenses (if any), and at the last, most desperate moment, summon legalities and/or technicalities to hide the blemishes and imperfections of the actions and/or ommissions of the accused. Connie has no room in her mind or heart to doubt the accused, as she must believe (the proper legal term is "presume") the innocence of the accused, until proven guilty. Connie cannot employ anything other than the rigid words of the law and the science that lies behind it. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Elo, on the other hand, can be guided by intuition, speculative and investigative notions, and even public opinion. She can join the mob for or against the accused, engage in the more popular choice, and ride with popular views and thus be deemed wise. She can rely on investigative journalism (i.e., chismis na ni-"research" ng mga tulad ni Marites Vitug) and listen unencumberedly to street arguments regarding the guilt or otherwise of the accused. She can join demonstrations demanding the disclosure of facts hidden behind sacred robes, desecrating the most immaculate rules without fear or care for (being held in) contempt. She can hide behind "the people's will," never really caring that "the people" she thinks she represents is but a class, a minority or a majority, but probably never really representative of the population of this godforsaken country who gives not a fuck about the guilt or otherwise of the accused. Most of all, she can air opinions. informed or otherwise, appealing to the hearts and emotions of listeners rather to cold hard laws which though harsh are still laws. She can always hide behind the Augustinian principle of "an unjust law is no law" anyway, or even "the voice of the people is the voice of God." </span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-79616256961320793022012-01-09T03:34:00.000-08:002012-01-24T11:53:42.805-08:00REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, petitioner, vs. HON. ANIANO DESIERTO, as Ombudsman, EDUARDO C. CONJUANCO, JR., JUAN PONCE ENRILE, MA. CLARA S. LOBREGAT, ROLANDO DE LA CUESTA, JOSE C. CONCEPCION, JOSE R. MENDOZA, EMMANUEL M. ALAMEDA, HERMENEGILDO C. ZAYCO, TEODORA A. REGALA, AMADO C. MAMURIC, DOUGLAS LU YM, JAIME GANDIAGA, NARCISO PINEDA and DANILO S. URSUA, respondents.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[G.R. No. 131966. September 23, 2002] </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Facts: Respondents, subordinates and close associates of Dictator Marcos, are members of the Boards of Directors of United Coconut Planter Bank and United Coconut Oil Mills, Inc. They are charged with taking undue advantage of their public office and close relationship with Dictator Marcos in unlawfully misappropriating huge amounts of coconut levy funds in connection with the acquisition of 16 oil mills in order to establish a monopoly, violating RA 3019 (Anti-Graft & Corrupt Practices Act). The PCGG then transmitted the case to the Office of the Ombudsman for appropriate action, OMB-0-90-2811. Thereafter, the Graft Investigation Officer II, Amanete, issued a resolution recommending the dismissal of said case, finding no sufficient evidence to believe that violation of Anti-Graft Law was committed. </span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Petitioner filed with the SC a x x x petition for certiorari on the ff grounds: (a) respondents made convenient use of PD 961, PD 1468 and LOI 926 to carry out their grand design to establish a coco monopoly to the detriment of poor coco farmers; (b) there is no legal basis for the contention that the acts of respondents had been decriminalized; and (c) allegations in the complaint are deemed admitted as respondents failed to submit their counter-affidavit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Respondents Regala and Concepcion contend, inter alia, that petitioner has no cause of action against them because their acts were performed in the course of their duties as counsels. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Issues:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. If the petition should be entertained though it was filed by the PCGG without the intervention of the OSG.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. If respondents Regala and Concepcion should be dropped as paties-defendants in OMB-0-90-2811.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Held:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. The ends of substantial justice affords an exception that the OSG should have filed he instant petition in behalf of the Republic. If the ends of substantial justice would be better served, and the issues in the action could be determined in a more just, speedy and inexpensive manner, then the petititon shold be entertained, even assuming arguendo that the PCGG has no authority to file said petition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Yes. In Castillo vs Sandiganbayan and Republic of the Philippines, the Court excluded lawyer Gregorio Castillo as party-defendant to the case, citing Regala vs. Sandiganbayan. x x x The Ombudsman is directed to proceed with the preliminary investigation of OMB-0-90-2811 and to exclude respondents Regala and Concepcion as defendants therein.</span>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-33028375349136556492012-01-03T01:17:00.000-08:002012-01-03T01:18:41.775-08:00In Re: The Corona and UST PhD Debate (My Main Point being Journalistic Issues, with Points Distantly Related to Maria Ozawa)<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These past few days, the Philippine Daily Inquirer ran articles questioning Chief Justice Corona's doctor of laws degree from the four hundred-year-old University of Santo Tomas. Marites Danguilan-Vitug, author of <i>Shadow of Doubt: Probing the Supreme Court</i>, has an article in the January 1, 2012 issue of the said newspaper questioning UST's conferment of said degree to the Chief Justice. (As of now, the online article in the PDI website has been taken down. However, other blogs have recorded the text, which though might seem less credible than the PDI, <a href="http://brownmonkeytheory.tumblr.com/post/15115622713/ust-breaks-rules-for-cj-corona">must do for now</a>.) On January 2, the PDI ran <a href="http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/121035/ust-cj-corona-earned-ph-d">another story</a>, this time not a headline under a banner held by two fat cherubs hailing the new year, that contained UST's side of the coin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As much as <b><i>I dislike Corona and think there really are things that should not be where they are</i></b>, I am of the opinion that the Philippine Daily Inquirer committed a culpable negligence of sorts when it published Vitug's article without getting the side of the University of Santo Tomas. Would it have been too much to wait for the school's answer, seeing as that story isn't really too perishable? And what would it say of the PDI's credibility in running a second story telling the other side of the coin, a day after the seemingly-biased first article was printed?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This whole thing reminds me of a much less serious topic, albeit should be of the same journalistic touch. Almost a month ago, ABS-CBN Interactive launched a story about how Japanese AV idol Maria Ozawa allegedly was inviting Filipino males for an audition for her next film. A couple of my hot-blooded male friends posted this link on their FBs, but several hours later GMA News launched a story of thinking-before-clicking: apparently, "Maria Ozawa" was the creation of a couple of men who had nothing better to do. The real porn star released no such statement, much less ask anybody of any nationality about a bukkake audition. ABS-CBN of course edited their story, and boys all around were groaning, "Oh, man!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Going back to Corona, UST, and Vitug. I want to make it clear that <b>I am not a Corona apologist</b>, nor a graduate of UST defending her alma mater. (I actually finished my undergrad at UP, if you're interested, and I'm currently hanging on by a thread at San Beda Law.) But as someone who wants to enter the practice of law and hopefully work in the SC one day, and as a writer in general, I just want to say that publishing Vitug's story on the first day of 2012, under a banner of cherubs holding up a Happy New Year banner, reeks of bias and even righteous glee against Corona. Is that some sort of poetic/journalistic justice against Corona, who has long been accused of being biased in favor of Arroyo?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Read Vitug's article here in this <a href="http://brownmonkeytheory.tumblr.com/post/15115622713/ust-breaks-rules-for-cj-corona">Tumblr post</a> (I can assure you, it's the real thing), or in the <a href="http://www.rappler.com/28-editors-pick/643-republished-ust-breaks-rules-to-favor-corona">Rapper page</a> (if you're not taking my word for the Tumblr post, but I bet they'll pull this down soon). You decide if I'm just rambling like a lunatic here, or if I do have a valid point.</span>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-79776146900682863342012-01-01T01:03:00.001-08:002012-01-03T04:45:05.836-08:00The Sea Bell | JRR Tolkien<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>I walked by the sea, and there came to me, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>as a star-beam on the wet sand, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>a white shell like a sea-bell; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>trembling it lay in my wet hand. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>In my fingers shaken I heard waken </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>a ding within, by a harbour bar </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>a buoy swinging, a call ringing </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>over endless seas, faint now and far. </i></span></span><br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br />
</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">Then I saw a boat silently float </i><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>On the night-tide, empty and grey. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>‘It is later than late! Why do we wait?' </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>I lept in and cried: ‘Bear me away!' </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br style="color: #442e1c; text-align: -webkit-left;" /></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>It bore me away, wetted with spray, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>wrapped in a mist, wound in a sleep, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>to a forgotten strand in a strange land. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>In the twilight beyond the deep </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>I heard a sea-bell swing in the swell, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>dinging, dinging, and the breakers roar </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>on the hidden teeth of a perilous reef; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and at last I came to a long shore. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>White it glimmered, and the sea simmered </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>with star-mirrors in a silver net; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>cliffs of stone pale as ruel-bone </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>in the moon-foam were gleaming wet. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Glittering sand slid through my hand, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Dust of pearl and jewel-grist, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Trumpets of opal, roses of coral, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Flutes of green and amethyst. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>But under cliff-eaves there were glooming caves, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>weed-curtained, dark and grey' </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>a cold air stirred in my hair, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and the light waned, as I hurried away. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br style="color: #442e1c; text-align: -webkit-left;" /></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Down from a hill ran a green rill; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>its water I drank to my heart's ease. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Up its fountain-stair to a country fair </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>of ever-eve I came, far from the seas, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>dclimbing into meadows of fluttering shadows; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>flowers lay there like fallen stars, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and on a blue pool, glassy and cool, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>like floating moons the nenuphars. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Alders were sleeping, and willows weeping </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>by a slow river of rippling weeds; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>gladdon-swords guarded the fords, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and green spears, and arrow-reeds. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br style="color: #442e1c; text-align: -webkit-left;" /></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>There was echo of song all the evening long </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>down in the valley, many a thing </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>running to and fro: hares white as snow, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>voles out of holes; moths on the wing </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>with lantern-eyes; in quiet surpise </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>brocks were staring out of dard doors. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>I heard dancing there, music in the air, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>feet going quick on the green floors. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>But wherever I came it was ever the same: </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>the feet fled, and all was still; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>never a greeting, only the fleeting </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>pipes, voices, horns on the hill. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br style="color: #442e1c; text-align: -webkit-left;" /></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Of river-leaves and the rush-sheaves </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>I made me a mantle of jewel-green, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>a tall wand to hold, and a flag of gold; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>my eyes shone like the star-sheen. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>With flowers crowned I stood on a mound, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and shrill as a call at cock-crow? </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Why do none speak, wherever I go? </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Here now I stand, king of this land, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>with gladdon-sword and reed-mace. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Answer my call! Come forth all! </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Speak to me words! Show me a face!' </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br style="color: #442e1c; text-align: -webkit-left;" /></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Black came a cloud as a night-shroud. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Like a dark mole groping I went, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>to the ground falling, on my hands crawling </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>with eyes blind and my back bent. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>I crept to a wood: silent it stood </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>in its dead leaves; bare were its boughs. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>There must I sit, wandering in wit, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>while owls snored in their hollow house. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>For a year and day there must I stay: </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>beetles were tapping in the rotten trees, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>spiders were weaving, in the mould heaving </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>puffballs loomed about my knees. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br style="color: #442e1c; text-align: -webkit-left;" /></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>At last there came light in my long night, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and I saw my hair hanging grey. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>‘Bent though I be, I must find the sea! </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>I have lost myself, ,and I know not the way, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>but let me be gone!' Then I stumbled on; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>like a hunting bat shadow was over me; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>in my ears dinned a withering wind, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and with ragged briars I tried to cover me. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>My hands were torn and my knees worn, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and years were heavy upon my back, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>when the rain in my face took a salt taste, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and I smelled the smell of sea-wrack. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br style="color: #442e1c; text-align: -webkit-left;" /></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Birds came sailing, mewing, wailing; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>I heard voices in cold caves, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>seals barking, and rocks snarling, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and in spout-holes the gulping of waves. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Winter came fast; into a mist I passed, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>to land's end my years I bore; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Snow was in the air, ice in my hair, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>darkness was lying on the last shore. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br style="color: #442e1c; text-align: -webkit-left;" /></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>There still afloat waited the boat, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>in the tide lifting, its prow tossing. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Wearily I lay, as it bore me away, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>the waves climbing, the seas crossing, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>passing old hulls clustered with gulls </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and great ships laden with light, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>coming to haven, dark as a raven, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>silent as snow, deep in the night. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br style="color: #442e1c; text-align: -webkit-left;" /></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Houses were shuttered, wind round them muttered, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>roads were empty. I sat by a door, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>and where drizzling rain poured down a drain </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>I cast away all that I bore: </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>in my clutching hand some grains of sand, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>And a sea-shell silent and dead. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>Never will my ear that bell hear, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>never my feet that shore tread, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>never again, as in sad lane, </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>in blind alley and in long street </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>ragged I walk. To myself I talk; </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #442e1c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"><i>For still they speak not, men that meet.</i></span>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-77576823318556330532012-01-01T00:37:00.000-08:002012-01-01T00:37:30.098-08:00Philippine Judges Association vs. Prado (G.R. No. 105371 November 11, 1993)<div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">G.R. No. 105371 November 11, 1993<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">THE PHILIPPINE JUDGES ASSOCIATION, duly rep. by its President, BERNARDO P. ABESAMIS, Vice-President for Legal Affairs, MARIANO M. UMALI, Director for Pasig, Makati, and Pasay, Metro Manila, ALFREDO C. FLORES, and Chairman of the Committee on Legal Aid, JESUS G. BERSAMIRA, Presiding Judges of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 85, Quezon City and Branches 160, 167 and 166, Pasig, Metro Manila, respectively: the NATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF THE JUDGES ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES, composed of the METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURT JUDGES ASSOCIATION rep. by its President. REINATO QUILALA of the MUNICIPAL TRIAL CIRCUIT COURT, Manila; THE MUNICIPAL JUDGES LEAGUE OF THE PHILIPPINES rep. by its President, TOMAS G. TALAVERA; by themselves and in behalf of all the Judges of the Regional Trial and Shari'a Courts, Metropolitan Trial Courts and Municipal Courts throughout the Country,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">petitioners,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
vs.<br />
<b>HON. PETE PRADO, in his capacity as Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications, JORGE V. SARMIENTO, in his capacity as Postmaster General, and the PHILIPPINE POSTAL CORP.,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b>respondents.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Facts</i>: Petitioners, members of the lower courts, are assailing the constitutionality of Sec 35 of RA 7354 due to, inter alia, its being discriminatory because of withdrawing the franking privilege from the Judiciary but retaining said privilege for the President, the VP, members of Congress, the Comelec, former Presidents, and the National Census and Statistics Office. Respondents counter that there is no discrimination as the franking privilege has also been withdrawn from the Office of Adult Education, the Institute of National Language, the Telecommunications Office, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Historical Commission, the AFP, the AFP Ladies Steering Committee, the City and Provincial Prosecutors, the Tanodbayan (Office of the Special Prosecutor), the Kabataang Baranggay, the Commission on the Filipino Language, the Provincial and City Assessors, and the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Issue</i>: Constitutionality of Sec. 35of RA 7354<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Held</i>: Hereby declared unconstitutional. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The EPC is embraced in the concept of due process, as every unfair discrimination offends the requirements of justice and fair play.</span><span style="font-size: 7.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">According to a long line of decisions, <b>equal protection simply requires that all persons or things similarly situated should be treated alike, both as to rights conferred and responsibilities imposed, 12 Similar subjects, in other words, should not be treated differently, so as to give undue favor to some and unjustly discriminate against others</b>.</span><span style="font-size: 7.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The equal protection clause does not require the universal application of the laws on all persons or things without distinction. In lumping the Judiciary with the other offices from which the franking privilege has been withdrawn, Section 35 has placed the courts of justice in a category to which it does not belong. If it recognizes the need of the President of the Philippines and the members of Congress for the franking privilege, there is no reason why it should not recognize a similar and in fact greater need on the part of the Judiciary for such privilege. While we may appreciate the withdrawal of the franking privilege from the Armed Forces of the Philippines Ladies Steering Committee, we fail to understand why the Supreme Court should be similarly treated as that Committee.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">In the SC’s view, the only acceptable reason for the grant of the franking privilege was the perceived need of the grantee for the accommodation, which would justify a waiver of substantial revenue by the Corporation in the interest of providing for a smoother flow of communication between the government and the people. If the problem of the respondents is the loss of revenues from the franking privilege, the remedy, it seems to us, is to withdraw it altogether from all agencies of government, including those who do not need it. The problem is not solved by retaining it for some and withdrawing it from others, especially where there is no substantial distinction between those favored, which may or may not need it at all, and the Judiciary, which definitely needs it. The problem is not solved by violating the Constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-69007790228554237652011-12-31T03:23:00.001-08:002011-12-31T03:23:10.397-08:00People vs. Burgos (G.R. No. L-68955 September 4, 1986)<div style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">G.R. No. L-68955 September 4, 1986<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">plaintiff-appellee,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
vs.<br />
<b>RUBEN BURGOS y TITO,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b>defendant-appellant.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Facts: Defendant is charged with illegal possession of firearm in furtherance of subversion (tasks such as recruiting members to the NPA and collection of contributions from its members) and found guilty by the RTC of Digos, Davao del Sur. From the information filed by the police authorities upon the information given by Masamlok, allegedly a man defendant tried to recruit into the NPA, the police authorities arrest defendant and had his house searched. Subsequently, certain NPA-related documents and a firearm, allegedly issued and used by one Alias Cmdr. Pol of the NPA, are confiscated. Defendant denies being involved in any subversive activities and claims that he has been tortured in order to accept ownership of subject firearm and that his alleged extrajudicial statements have been made only under fear, threat and intimidation on his person and his family. He avers that his arrest is unlawful as it is done without valid warrant, that the trial court erred in holding the search warrant in his house for the firearm lawful, and that the trial court erred in holding him guilty beyond reasonable doubt for violation of PD 9 in relation to GOs 6and 7. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Issue: If defendant’s arrest, the search of his home, and the subsequent confiscation of a firearm and several NPA-related documents are lawful. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Held: Records disclose that when the police went to defendant’s house to arrest him upon the information given by Masamlok, they had neither search nor arrest warrant with them—in wanton violation of ArtIV, Sec 3 (now Art III, sec 2). As the Court held in Villanueva vs Querubin, <b>the state, however powerful, doesn’t have access to a man’s home, his haven of refuge where his individuality can assert itself in his choice of welcome and in the kind of objects he wants around him</b>. In the traditional formulation, a man’s house, however humble, is his castle, and thus is outlawed any unwarranted intrusion by the government. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The trial court justified the warrantless arrest under Rule 113 Sec 6 of the RoC: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 11.0pt; margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">a)<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>When the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is about to commit an offense in his presence;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 11.0pt; margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">b)<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>When an offense has in fact been committed, and he has reasonable ground to believe that the person to be arrested has committed it;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 11.0pt; margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">c)<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or temporarily confined while his case is pending or has escaped while being transferred from one confinement to another<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and the confiscation of the firearm under Rule 126, Sec 12: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; margin-left: 24.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A person charged with an offense may be searched for dangerous weapons or anything which may be used as proof of the commission of the offense.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, <b>the trial court has erred in its conclusion</b> that said warrantless arrest is under the ambit of aforementioned RoC. At the time of defendant’s arrest, he wasn’t in actual possession of any firearm or subversive document, and was not committing any “subversive” act—he was plowing his field. <b>It is not enough that there is reasonable ground to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a crime in a warrantless arrest. An essential precondition is that a crime must have beenin fact or actually have been committed first; it isn’t enough to suspect a crime may have been committed.</b> The test of reasonable ground applies only to the identity of the perpetrator. The Court also finds no compelling reason for the haste with which the arresting officers sought to arrest the accused. We fail to see why they failed to first go through the process of obtaining a warrant of arrest, if indeed they had reasonable ground to believe that the accused had truly committed a crime. There is no showing that there was a real apprehension that the accused was on the verge of flight or escape. Likewise, there is no showing that the whereabouts of the accused were unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In proving the ownership of the questioned firearm and alleged subversive documents, assuming they were really illegal, the defendant was never informed of his constitutional rights at the time of his arrest; thus the admissions obtained are in violation of the constitutional right against self-incrimination under Sec 20 Art IV (now Sec 12, Art III) and thus inadmissible as evidence. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Furthermore, the defendant was not accorded his constitutional right to be assisted by counsel during the custodial interrogation. His extra-judicial confession, the firearm, and the alleged subversive documents are all inadmissible as evidence. In light of the aforementioned, defendant is acquitted on grounds of reasonable doubt of the crime with which he has been charged. Subject firearm and alleged subversive documents have been disposed of in accordance with law. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 11.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Court also maintains that violations of human rights do not help in overcoming a rebellion. Reiterating <i>Morales vs Enrile</i>, “<b>while the government should continue to repel the communists, the subversives, the rebels, and the lawless with the means at its command, it should always be remembered that whatever action is taken must always be within the framework of our Constitution and our laws</b>.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-80404410501527546202011-12-31T00:42:00.000-08:002011-12-31T00:43:55.859-08:00Stonehill vs. Diokno<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>G.R. No. L-19550 June 19, 1967</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>HARRY S. STONEHILL, ROBERT P. BROOKS, JOHN J. BROOKS and KARL BECK,</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>petitioners,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
vs.<br />
<b>HON. JOSE W. DIOKNO, in his capacity as SECRETARY OF JUSTICE; JOSE LUKBAN, in his capacity as Acting Director, National Bureau of Investigation; SPECIAL PROSECUTORS PEDRO D. CENZON, EFREN I. PLANA and MANUEL VILLAREAL, JR. and ASST. FISCAL MANASES G. REYES; JUDGE AMADO ROAN, Municipal Court of Manila; JUDGE ROMAN CANSINO, Municipal Court of Manila; JUDGE HERMOGENES CALUAG, Court of First Instance of Rizal-Quezon City Branch, and JUDGE DAMIAN JIMENEZ, Municipal Court of Quezon City,</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>respondents.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Facts: Petitioners, who have prior deportation cases pending, and the corporation they form were alleged to committed "violation of Central Bank Laws, Tariff and Customs Laws, Internal Revenue (Code) and the Revised Penal Code,” to which they were served 4 search warrants, directing any peace officer to search petitioners’ persons and/or premises of their offices, warehouses and/or residences for: “books of accounts, financial records, vouchers, correspondence, receipts, ledgers, journals, portfolios, credit journals, typewriters, and other documents and/or papers showing all business transactions including disbursements receipts, balance sheets and profit and loss statements and Bobbins (cigarette wrappers).”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The items allegedly illegally obtained can be classified into two groups: (1) those found and seized in the offices of aforementioned corporations, and (2) those found in petitioners’ residences. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Petitioners aver that the warrant is illegal for, inter alia: (1) they do not describe with particularity the documents, books and things to be seized; (2) cash money, not mentioned in the warrants, were actually seized; (3) the warrants were issued to fish evidence against the aforementioned petitioners in deportation cases filed against them; (4) the searches and seizures were made in an illegal manner; and (5) the documents, papers and cash money seized were not delivered to the courts that issued the warrants, to be disposed of in accordance with law x x x. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Respondent-prosecutors invoke the Moncado vs People’s Court ruling: even if the searches and seizures under consideration were unconstitutional, the documents, papers and things thus seized are admissible in evidence against petitioners herein.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Issue: Validity of the search warrants. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Held: The SC ruled in favor of Stonehill et. al., reversing the Moncado doctrine. Though Stonehill et. al. are not the proper parties to assail the validity of the search warrant issued against their corporation and thus they have no cause of action (only the officers or board members of said corporation may assail said warrant, and that corporations have personalities distinct from petitioners’ personalities), the 3 warrants issued to search petitioners’ residences are hereby declared void. Thus, the searches and seizures made therein are made illegal. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The constitution protects the people’s right against unreasonable search and seizure. It provides:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (1) that no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, to be determined by the judge in the manner set forth in said provision; and<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (2) that the warrant shall particularly describe the things to be seized. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the case at bar, none of these are met.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The warrant was issued from mere allegation that petitioners committed a “violation of Central Bank Laws, Tariff and Customs Laws, Internal Revenue (Code) and Revised Penal Code.” <b>As no specific violation has been alleged, it was impossible for the judges who issued said warrants to have found the existence of probable cause</b>, for the same presupposes the introduction of competent proof that the party against whom it is sought has performed or committed violations of the law. In other words, <b>it would be a legal heresy, of the highest order, to convict anybody of a “violation of Central Bank Laws, Tariff and Customs Laws, Internal Revenue (Code) and Revised Penal Code,” — as alleged in the aforementioned applications — without reference to any determinate provision of said laws or codes.</b> General warrants are also to be eliminated, as the legality or illegality of petitioners’ transactions is immaterial to the invalidity of the general warrant that sought these effects to be searched and seized: “Books of accounts, financial records, vouchers, journals, correspondence, receipts, ledgers, portfolios, credit journals, typewriters, and other documents and/or papers showing all business transactions including disbursement receipts, balance sheets and related profit and loss statements.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Court also holds that the only practical means of enforcing the constitutional injunction against unreasonable searches and seizures is, in the language of the Federal Supreme Court: x x x <b>If letters and private documents can thus be seized and held and used in evidence against a citizen accused of an offense, the protection of the 4th Amendment, declaring his rights to be secure against such searches and seizures, is of no value</b>, and, so far as those thus placed are concerned, might as well be stricken from the Constitution<b>. The efforts of the courts and their officials to bring the guilty to punishment, praiseworthy as they are, are not to be aided by the sacrifice of those great principles</b> established by years of endeavor and suffering which have resulted in their embodiment in the fundamental law of the land. </span><o:p></o:p></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-79726710044655809132011-12-30T05:07:00.000-08:002011-12-30T05:11:00.993-08:00People vs Marti<div style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">G.R. No. 81561 January 18, 1991<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">plaintiff-appellee<br />
vs.<br />
<b>ANDRE MARTI,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></b>accused-appellant<b>.</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Facts: The proprietors of Manila Packing and Export Forwarders, following standard operating procedure, opened four gift wrapped boxes from which emerged a peculiar odor. They reported this to the NBI on the same day, and in the presence of said agents, opened the boxes which contained marijuana. The NBI filed an information against appellant for violation of RA 6425, Dangerous Drugs Act, but appellant contended that the evidence had been obtained in violation of consti rights against unreasonable search and seizure and privacy of communication. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Issue: May an act of a private individual without the intervention and participation of the State, and allegedly in violation of appellant’s constitutional rights, be invoked against the State? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Held: No. It was the proprietor of the forwarding agency who made search/inspection of the packages, not the NBI, as appellant would have the Court believe. <b>Said inspection was reasonable and a standard operating procedure on the part of the proprietor as a precautionary measure before delivery of packages to the Bureau of Customs or the Bureau of Posts</b>. Second, the mere presence of the NBI agents did not convert the reasonable search the proprietor effected into a warrantless search and seizure proscribed by the Constitution. Merely to observe and look at that which is in plain sight is not a search. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Outlawed is any unwarranted intrusion by the government, which is called upon to refrain from any invasion of his dwelling and to respect the privacies of his life. However, in the absence of governmental interference, the liberties granted by the Constitution cannot be invoked against the State. As held in Bernas vs. US, the Fourth Amendment and the law applying to it do not require exclusion of evidence obtained through a search by a private citizen; rather the amendment only proscribes government action. To agree with appellant that an act of a private individual in violation of the Bill of Rights should also be construed as an act of the State would result in serious legal complications and an absurd interpretation of the constitution. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The constitutional proscription against unlawful searches and seizures therefore applies as a restraint directed only against the government and its agencies tasked with the enforcement of the law. Thus, it could only be invoked against the State to whom the restraint against arbitrary and unreasonable exercise of power is imposed.</b></span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-14694422608395979512011-12-29T09:06:00.000-08:002011-12-29T09:06:45.042-08:00People vs Cayat<div style="background: white; line-height: 17.0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>G.R. No. L-45987 May 5, 1939</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 17pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES,</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>plaintiff-appellee,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
vs.<br />
<b>CAYAT,</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>defendant-appellant<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 17pt; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Facts: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cayat was a native from Baguio, Benguet, Mt. Province who was found guilty of violation of Sections 2 and 3 of Act 1639: It shall be unlawful for any native of the Philippine Islands who is a member of a non-Christian tribe within the meaning of the Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-seven, to buy, receive, have in his possession, or drink any ardent spirits, ale, beer, wine, or intoxicating liquors of any kind, other than the so-called native wines and liquors which the members of such tribes have been accustomed themselves to make prior to the passage of this Act, except as provided in section one hereof; and it shall be the duty of any police officer or other duly authorized agent of the Insular or any provincial, municipal or township government to seize and forthwith destroy any such liquors found unlawfully in the possession of any member of a non-Christian tribe.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">SEC. 3. Any person violating the provisions of section one or section two of this Act shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable for each offense by a fine of not exceeding two hundred pesos or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, in the discretion of the court.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Issues:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]-->If said law is discriminatory and denies EP of laws;</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]-->If said law is an improper exercise of the police power of the state. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Held: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="line-height: 17pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Said statute does not deny EP of laws; the guaranty of the equal protection of the laws is not equal protection of the laws is not violated by a legislation based on reasonable classification. And the classification, to be reasonable:</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]-->must rest on substantial distinctions; </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">b.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]-->must be germane to the purposes of the law; </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">c.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]-->must not be limited to existing conditions only; and </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">d.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]-->must apply equally to all members of the same class. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17pt;">Act 1639 meets all such requirements. The classification rests on real and substantial, not merely imaginary or whimsical, distinctions. It is not based upon "accident of birth or parentage” but upon the degree of civilization and culture. "The term 'non-Christian tribes' refers, not to religious belief, but to natives of the Philippine Islands of a low grade of civilization, usually living in tribal relationship apart from settled communities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17pt;"><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17pt;">When the public safety or the public morals require the discontinuance of a certain practice by certain class of persons, the hand of the Legislature cannot be stayed from providing for its discontinuance by any incidental inconvenience which some members of the class may suffer.</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17pt;"> The private interests of such members must yield to the paramount interests of the nation. The law, then, does not seek to mark the non-Christian tribes as "an inferior or less capable race." On the contrary, all measures thus far adopted in the promotion of the public policy towards them rest upon a recognition of their inherent right to equality in that enjoyment of those privileges now enjoyed by their Christian brothers. But as there can be no true equality before the law, if there is, in fact, no equality in education, the government has endeavored, by appropriate measures, to raise their culture and civilization and secure for them the benefits of their progress, with the ultimate end in view of placing them with their Christian brothers on the basis of true equality.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17pt;">The prohibition is germane to the purposes of the law. It is designed to insure peace and order in and among the non- Christian tribes has often resulted in lawlessness and crime thereby hampering the efforts of the government to raise their standards of life and civilization. This law is not limited in its application to conditions existing at the time of the enactment. It is intended to apply for all times as long as those conditions exists. </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17pt;">The Act applies equally to all members of the class. That it may be unfair in its operation against a certain number of non- Christians by reason of their degree of culture is not an argument against the equality of its operation nor affect the reasonableness of the classification thus established.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-left: .25in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-indent: .25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span><!--[endif]-->Said statute is not an improper exercise of the PPS. Any measure intended to promote the health, peace, morals, education, and good order of the people or to increase the industries of the state, develop its resources and add to its wealth and prosperity is legitimate exercise of police power, unless shown to be whimsical or capricious as to unduly interfere with the rights of an individual. Act 1639 is designed to promote peace and order to non-Christian tribes and to eventually hasten their equalization and unification with the rest of their Christian brothers. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-83740834821148296522011-12-29T05:13:00.001-08:002011-12-29T05:13:36.438-08:00Ormoc Sugar Company Inc. vs Treasurer of Ormoc City<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>G.R. No. L-23794 February 17, 1968</strong><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>ORMOC SUGAR COMPANY, INC.,</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Plaintiff-Appellant</em>, vs.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>THE TREASURER OF ORMOC CITY, THE MUNICIPAL BOARD OF ORMOC CITY, HON. ESTEBAN C. CONEJOS as Mayor of Ormoc City and ORMOC CITY,</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Defendants-Appellees</em>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Facts: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Municipal Board of Ormoc City passed a municipal tax ordinance imposing on any and all productions of centrifugal sugar milled at the Ormoc Sugar Company Inc. one percent per export sale to the US and other foreign countries. Said company filed before the CFI of Leyte a complaint against the City of Ormoc, its Treasurer, Municipal Board and Mayor, alleging sasid ordinance is violative of the equal protection clause and the rule of uniformity of taxation, among other things. Ormoc Sugar Company Inc. was the only sugar central in Ormoc City at the time. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Issue: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WON the constitutional limits on the power of taxation, specifically the EPC and uniformity of taxation, were infringed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Held: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes. Though Ormoc Sugar Company Inc. is the only sugar central in the city of Ormoc at the time, the classification, to be reasonable, should be in terms applicable to future conditions as well. Said ordinance shoouldn’t be singular and exclusive as to exclude any subsequently established sugar central, of the same class as plaintiff, for coverage of the tax. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">EPC applies only to persons or things identically situated and doesn’t bar a reasonable classificationof the subject of legislation. A classification is reasonable where: 1) it is based on substantial distinctions which make real differences; (2) these are germane to the purpose of the law; (3) the classification applies not only to present conditions but also to future conditions which are substantially identical to those of the present; (4) the classification applies only to those who belong to the same class.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-33243837474804598642011-11-28T12:08:00.000-08:002011-11-28T12:08:48.355-08:00Republic vs Luzon Stevedoring Corporation (GR No. L-21749, September 29, 1967)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Facts: A barge being towed by tugboats "Bangus" and "Barbero" all owned by Luzon Stevedoring Corp. rammed one of the wooden piles of the Nagtahan Bailey Bridge due to the swollen current of the Pasig after heavy rains days before. The Republic sued Luzon Stevedoring for actual and consequential damages. Luzon Stevedoring claimed it <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">had exercised due diligence in the selection and supervision of its employees; that the damages to the bridge were caused by</span><i style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"> force majeure</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">; that plaintiff has no capacity to sue; and that the Nagtahan bailey bridge is an obstruction to navigation.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">Issue: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Whether or not the collision of appellant's barge with the supports or piers of the Nagtahan bridge was in law caused by fortuitous event or</span><i style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"> force majeure</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">.</span></span><br />
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="background-color: white; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Held: There is a presumption of negligence on part of the employees of Luzon Stevedoring, as the Nagtahan Bridge is stationary. For <i>caso fortuito</i> or<i> force majeure</i> (which in law are identical in so far as they exempt an obligor from liability) by definition, are extraordinary events not foreseeable or avoidable, "events that <i>could not</i> be foreseen, or which, though foreseen, were inevitable" (Art. 1174, Civ. Code of the Philippines). It is, therefore, not enough that the event should not have been foreseen or anticipated, as is commonly believed, but it must be one impossible to foresee or to avoid. The mere <i>difficulty</i> to foresee the happening is not impossibility to foresee the same. Luzon Stevedoring knew the perils posed by the swollen stream and its swift current, and voluntarily entered into a situation involving obvious danger; it therefore assured the risk, and can not shed responsibility merely because the precautions it adopted turned out to be insufficient. It is thus liable for damages. </span></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-418519927974203398.post-75217563367987676912011-11-28T11:04:00.000-08:002011-11-28T11:04:51.496-08:00People vs. Bati (G.R. No. 87429, August 27, 1990)<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Facts</b>: By the word of their civilian informer, Patrolmen Jose Luciano, Angelito Caraan, Nelson Dimatulac and Democrito Cuenca immediately proceeded to the vicinity an alleged buy-and-sell of marijuana was taking place. They saw Marquez giving something to Bati, who, thereafter, handed a wrapped object, which turned out to be marijuana worth P190, to Marquez who then inserted the object inside the front of his pants in front of his abdomen while Bati, on his part, placed the thing given to him inside his pocket. Marquez was arrested on the spot. Both Bati and Marquez were brought to the Police station where they admitted they were in the buying and selling of the confiscated marijuana.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Issue</b>: Appellant contends that the arrest was not valid as the requirements for a warrantless arrest were not complied with.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Held</b>: This contention is without merit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Section 5 Rule 113 of the Rules in Criminal Procedure clearly provides:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sec. 5. Arrest without warrant, when lawful. — A peace officer or private person may, without warrant, arrest a person:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-indent: 24.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(a) When in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-indent: 24.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(b) When an offense has in fact just been committed, and he has personal knowledge of facts indicating that the person to be arrested has committed it x x x <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is the considered view of the Court that <b>there was no need for Luciano and Caraan to be armed with a warrant of arrest when they arrested Marquez and the accused since they had personal knowledge of the actual commission of the crime viz: They were eyewitnesses to the illegal exchange of marijuana and P190.00 between Marquez and accused who were caught <i>in flagrante delicto</i>.</b> The facts and circumstances attendant precisely fall under Sec. 5, (a), Rule 113 of the Rules on Criminal Procedure. The subsequent arrest of Marquez and accused were made under the principle of "hot pursuit". The recovery of the marijuana from Marquez and the P190.00 from accused by the said police officers were not violative of their constitutional rights since Marquez and the accused voluntarily surrendered them to the police officers. But even for the sake of argument that the recovery of the marijuana and peso bills were against the consent of Marquez and accused, still, the search on their persons was incidental to their valid warrantless arrest. For, <b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">the rule that searches and seizures must be supported by a valid warrant is not an absolute rule. There are at least three exceptions: (1) search incidental to an arrest, (2) search of a moving vehicle and (3) seizure of evidence in plain view.</span> </b>In the case at bar, the searches made on Marquez and accused were incidental to their valid arrest.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Having caught the appellant in flagrante as a result of the buy-bust operation, the policemen were not only authorized but were also under obligation to apprehend the drug pusher even without a warrant of arrest And since appellant's arrest was lawful, it follows that the search made incidental to the arrest was also valid.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Supreme Court Poetry:</b> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The law is severe because those who are caught in the strangle hold of prohibited drugs not only slide into the ranks of the living dead, what is worse, they become a grave menace to the safety of the law-abiding members of society. </span><o:p></o:p></i></div>Maria Lucerohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208991561290634680noreply@blogger.com0